The Genealogy of Sulu is a succinct analysis of the tribes or elements which constituted the bulk of the early inhabitants of the island and is the most reliable record we have of the historical events which antedated Islam. The original inhabitants of the island are commonly referred to as Buranun or Budanun, which means “mountaineers” or “hill people.” This term is occasionally used synonymously with Gimbahanun, which means “people of the interior,” and with Manubus in the sense of “savage hill people” or “aborigines.” Some of the old foreign residents of Sulu maintain that they recognize considerable similarity between the Buranun and the Dayaks of Borneo, and say that the home utensils and clothes of the Sulus in the earlier days closely resembled those of the Dayaks. The capital of the Buranun was Maymbung. The earliest known ruler of Maymbung was Raja Sipad the Older, of whom nothing is related except that he was the ancestor of Raja Sipad the Younger. In the days of the latter there appeared Tuan Masha’ika, about whose ancestry there seems to be considerable ambiguity and difference of opinion. According to the Genealogy of Sulu he was supposed to have issued out of a stalk of bamboo, and was held by the people as a prophet. The traditions state that Tuan Masha’ika was the son of Jamiyun Kulisa and Indira Suga, who came to Sulu with Alexander the Great. Jamiyun Kulisa and Indira Suga are mythological names1 and in all probability represent male and female gods related to the thunderbolt and the sun, respectively. The former religion of the Sulus was of Hindu origin. It deified the various phenomena of nature and assigned the highest places in its pantheon to Indra, the sky; Agni, the fire; Vayu, the wind; Surya, the sun. The ancient Sulus no doubt had many myths relating to the marriages and heroic deeds of their gods by which natural phenomena were explained, and it is not unlikely that the above story of Jamiyun Kulisa was one of those myths. Taken in this light, the above legend may express the belief of the ancient Sulus that, by the marriage of the gods, Jamiyun Kulisa and Indira, rain fell and life was so imparted to the soil that plants grew. The word Masha’ika is so written in the Malay text as to suggest its probable formation from two words Masha and ika. The Sanskrit word Masha means “pulse” or “plant.” Ika or eka means “one.” On the other hand masha-ika may represent the two parts of the Sanskrit mashika which means “five mashas.” It may not therefore be improbable that masha-ika refers to the subordinate deity which assumes the form of a plant or signifies the first man, whom the deity created from a plant. It is not an uncommon feature of Malay legends to ascribe a supernatural origin to the ancestor of the tribe, and Tuan Masha’ika probably represents the admission into the Buranun stock of foreign blood and the rise of a chief not descended from Rajah Sipad the Older. The tarsila2 adds that he married the daughter of Raja Sipad the Younger, Iddha,3 and became the forefather of the principal people of Sulu. The common belief among the Sulus that Alexander the Great invaded their island is one of many indications which lead one to think that most of their knowledge and traditions came by the way of Malacca or Juhur, and possibly Tuan Masha’ika came from the same direction. It does seem therefore as if the dynasty of Sipad was supplanted by a foreign element represented by Tuan Masha’ika. These two elements were later augmented by the Tagimaha who settled at Bwansa and along the coast west of that point, and by the Baklaya who settled on the same coast east of the present site of Jolo. The four tribes thus brought so closely together mixed very intimately and later lost their identity in the development of a single nation, which reached its maturity under the guiding hand of a Mohammedan master. In spite of later immigrations to the island and in spite of conquest and defeat, the national character thus formed has remained unchanged throughout history and the Sulu of to-day still maintains that same individuality which he acquired in his earlier days. The noted emigration of the Bajaws or Samals of Juhur must have begun in the earlier parts of the fourteenth century, if not earlier. These sea nomads came in such large numbers and in such quick succession as to people the whole Tawi-tawi Group, the Pangutaran and Siasi Groups, all available space on the coast of Sulu proper, the Balangingi Group, and the coasts of Basilan and Zamboanga, before the close of the century and before the arrival of the first Mohammedan pioneers. The Samals exceeded the Sulus in number, and the effect of such overwhelming immigration must have been considerable; but, nevertheless, the Sulu maintained his nationality and rose to the occasion in a most remarkable manner. The newcomers were taken into his fold and were given his protection, for which they rendered noteworthy service; but their relation was never allowed to exceed that of a slave to his master or that of a subject to his ruler, and the Samals thus remained like strangers or guests in the land until a late date. Besides the Samals, some Bugis4 and Ilanun emigrants gained a foothold on the northern and northeastern coast of Sulu. The Bugis appear to have lost their identity, but the Ilanun are still recognizable in many localities, and some of the principal datus of Sulu still trace their origin to Mindanao. The numerous and extensive piratical expeditions undertaken by the Sulus from time immemorial must have been a great source of further influx of foreign blood. The earliest traditions say that, in the days of the Timway,5 Orangkaya Su’il, slaves or hostages were sent by the raja of Manila to secure the friendship of the Sulus. These slaves were, according to some accounts, of six colors, but the written records give them as four—red-eyed, white-eyed, blue-eyed, and black-eyed. The people do not entertain any doubt relative to the truth of these statements, and the custom is current even among the Samals of referring to the origin of some person as descended from the red-eyed slave, in making distinction as to whether he comes from a noble or is of low birth and as to the part of the country to which he belongs. According to general opinion the red-eyed slaves lived at Parang, the western section of the island; the white-eyed at Lati, the northern section lying to the east of Jolo; the black-eyed at Gi’tung, the middle and southern section; the blue-eyed at Lu’uk, the eastern section. This color distinction is difficult to explain, but it must have arisen out of the established custom of dividing slaves and captives, after returning from a piratical expedition, among the great chiefs of the various parties which composed the expedition. These parties as a rule belonged to four sections representing the four great districts of the island, over each of which one chief formerly was in authority.6 The number of elements which have thus entered into the constitution of the Sulu people must be great, for there was not a single island in the Philippine Archipelago which was spared by these marauders. Indeed, the nation owes its origin and its chief characters to piracy. As pirates these people took refuge in this island and lived in it, and as pirates they have stamped their reputation on the annals of history. However, the Sulus do not differ in this particular point from the Malays of other countries. All Malays were equally addicted to piracy. “It is in the Malay’s nature,” says an intelligent Dutch writer, “to rove on the seas in his prau, as it is in that of the Arab to wander with his steed on the sands of the desert. It is as impossible to limit the adventurous life of a Malay to fishing and trading as to retain a Bedouin in a village or in a habitation. *** This is not merely their habit; it may be termed their instinct.”7 “As surely as spiders abound where there are nooks and corners,” says another, “so have pirates sprung up wherever there is a nest of islands offering creeks and shallows, headlands, rocks, and reefs—facilities, in short, for lurking, for surprise, for attack, and for escape. The semibarbarous inhabitant of the Archipelago, born and bred in this position, naturally becomes a pirate. It is as natural to him to consider any well-freighted, ill-protected boat his property as it is to the fishing eagle above his head to sweep down upon the weaker but more hardworking bird and swallow what he has not had the trouble of catching.” So we are told that before the days of Makdum and Raja Baginda, Sulu had long been an emporium not only of regular traders from most nations, but the headquarters of those piratical marauders who there found a ready market for enslaved victims. To this period belongs the Mohammedan invasion of the Archipelago. If the Buranun8 were Dayaks in origin, they certainly did not keep their Dayak characteristics very long. For in all probability Tuan Masha’ika, the Tagimahas, and the Baklayas were Malays9 who came into Sulu from the west, and the dynasty established by Masha’ika must have exercised due influence on the Buranun. Whatever religion or customs these Malay conquerors had in their original land, they no doubt continued to practise in their new home. It does not appear that the Samals produced any change in this respect, and the same worship and social organization which the Sulus had remained unchanged until the Mohammedans reached the Archipelago. The two prominent characters who mark this era are Makdum and Raja Baginda. Makdum was a noted Arabian judge or scholar who arrived at Malacca about the middle of the fourteenth century, converted Sultan Mohammed Shah, the ruler, to Islam and established this religion throughout the state of Malacca. He evidently practised magic and medicine and exerted an unusually strong influence on the people of Malacca. Continuing farther east, he reached Sulu and Mindanao about the year 1380.10 In Sulu, it is said, he visited almost every island of the Archipelago and made converts to Islam in many places. The Island of Sibutu claims his grave, but the places at which he was most successful are Bwansa, the old capital of Sulu, and the Island of Tapul. It is said that the people of Bwansa built a mosque for him, and some of the chiefs of the town accepted his teachings and faith. The Tapul people claim descent from him, and some of them still regard him as a prophet. Makdum’s success in preaching a new faith to people as independent in their individual views and as pertinacious in their religious practices, beliefs, and customs as the Sulus must have been in his time, is certainly remarkable and creditable to a high degree. The results of his mission to Malacca and Sulu throw a new light on the history of Islam in the Philippine Islands and modify the opinion formerly held relative to its introduction by the sword. How much of a lasting effect the teachings of Makdum could have had on Sulu is very difficult of estimation, but in all probability the new sapling planted in the soil of Sulu would have withered before long had it not been for the future current of events which watered it and reared it to maturity. Some time after Makdum (the Genealogy of Sulu says ten years) there came into Sulu a prince from Menangkabaw called Raja Baginda. Menangkabaw11 is a rich, high region in central Sumatra, from which many Malayan dynasties seem to have come. Raja was the usual title applied to all Malayan kings. Baginda is said to have touched at Sambuwangan (Zamboanga) and Basilan before reaching Sulu. The nature of such a move can not be explained unless he followed the northern route leading from Borneo to Kagayan Sulu, Pangutaran, and Zamboanga, which route seems to have been taken by all Mohammedan missionaries and invaders mentioned in the tarsila. The written records of Baginda’s arrival and his later history are exceedingly brief. When he arrived at Bwansa, the Sulus came out to engage him in battle, as we would naturally expect; but, the tarsila continues, on learning that he was a Mohammedan, they desisted from fighting, invited him to stay with them, and seem to have entertained him very hospitably. Such an account is absurd on the face of it. Raja Baginda was not a trader nor a traveler touring the Archipelago. He was accompanied by ministers and no doubt came to Bwansa to stay and rule. His coming was an ordinary kind of invasion, which proved successful. When Abu Bakr reached Bwansa, as we will learn later, he was directed to Raja Baginda, who must have been the supreme ruler of Bwansa. Accordingly we find all the chiefs of Sulu enumerated in the tarsila at the day of Baginda’s arrival subordinate in rank, having no “rajas” among them. The Genealogy of Sulu is as misleading as the tarsila of Magindanao in that it pictures the arrival of Baginda as peaceful as that of Kabungsuwan. Some of the chiefs who were Mohammedans possibly intrigued against their former overlords, and, joining Baginda’s forces, defeated their opponents; but the dearth of information relative to this early Philippine history renders it impracticable to secure any more light on the subject. It may not, however, be out of place to remind the reader that the fourteenth century was marked by unusual activity in methods of warfare. Gunpowder, which was known and used as an explosive long before that date, had not been made use of in throwing projectiles in battle. The Arabs, we know, used firearms early in the fourteenth century, and we may conjecture that they introduced such weapons into Malacca and other parts of Malaysia as they moved east. It is not improbable then that a prince coming from Sumatra was provided with firearms which overawed the ignorant inhabitants of Bwansa and subdued the valor and courage of the Sulu and Samal pirates of those days. The statement made in the tarsila of Magindanao that, after the people of Slangan came down the river to where Kabungsuwan was anchored, “He beckoned (or pointed his finger) to them, but one of them died on that account, and they were frightened and returned,” is the only kind of evidence found which can possibly be interpreted to indicate that a firearm was used. Lacking confirmation as this may be, yet we positively know that when the Spaniards reached these Islands, these people had an abundance of firearms, muskets, lantaka12 and other cannon, and we may be justified in saying that probably firearms existed in the land in the century preceding the arrival of the Spaniards. This brings us approximately down to Baginda’s days. In considering the etymology of the titles of the Sulu chiefs mentioned in the time of Baginda, we observe that they are of three classes. The first class were the datus. These had mantiri or ministers and probably represented the descendants of Raja Sipad and Tuan Masha’ika. The second class were the sayk. “Sayk” is probably derived from the Arabic “Sheikh” meaning “chief.” These were the Tagimaha chiefs, and their rank was evidently subordinate to that of datu. The third class were the orangkaya, the Baklaya chiefs. These are also subordinate in grade and could not have been higher than the sayk. The words datu and orangkaya it must be remembered are of Malay origin, while raja and baginda are Sanskrit, baginda being the highest and being often used as equivalent to emperor, while raja means only king. Jawa is the Malay term for Java. The incident related in the tarsila relative to the gift of two elephants sent by the raja of Java to the raja of Sulu is interesting, in that it explains the existence in Jolo of the elephants found there during the earlier Spanish invasions. It further indicates that Raja Baginda was not an insignificant chief and that he kept up some kind of communication with the rajas of western Malaysia. The elephants received by Baginda were let loose, the story says, and they lived and multiplied on Mount Tumangtangis. On the declivity of this mountain there is a place still called lubluban-gaja, which means the “habitat or lying-place of the elephant.” The people relate several stories which make mention of the elephant, one of which declares that the chief who killed the last wild elephant was given the hand of the sultan’s daughter in marriage, in admiration of his strength and bravery. Brevity is without exception a marked characteristic of all Moro writings. Their letters, unlike those of the Malays and Arabs, are brief and devoid of compliment or detail. It is very difficult to pick out a superfluous word or phrase from the text of the Sulu tarsila. In fact, the narrative of events throughout the manuscript is so curtailed as to be reduced to a mere synopsis of headlines. It gives a very dim view of the general subject and leaves out much that is desired. Thus, the whole question of establishing Islam in Sulu and organizing its sultanate is dispensed with in one short paragraph briefly enumerating the following facts: That Sayid Abu Bakr came to Bwansa from Palembang by the way of Bruney; that he lived with Raja Baginda and taught and established a new religion for Sulu; that he was greatly respected by the people; and that he married Paramisuli, the daughter of Baginda, and became sultan. The traditions of the country, notwithstanding their brevity, add some further but less reliable information. It is the common belief that Abu Bakr was born in Mecca and that he lived some time at Juhur (or Malacca). Others state that it was his father, Zaynul Abidin, who came from Mecca and that Abu Bakr was born of the daughter of the Sultan of Juhur at Malacca. He came to Pangutaran first, the narrative continues, then to Zamboanga and Basilan. His younger brother, who had accompanied him, continued eastward to Mindanao, while he remained at Basilan for a short while. Having heard of Abu Bakr, the people of Sulu sent Orangkaya Su’il to Basilan to invite him to Bwansa to rule over them. This invitation was accepted and Abu Bakr was inaugurated sultan over Sulu soon after his arrival there. From the annals of Malacca we know that Abu Bakr was a famous authority on law and religion and that his mission to Malaysia was prompted by enthusiasm for the promulgation of the doctrines of Abu Ishaq, which were embodied in a book entitled “Darul-Mazlum, or The House of the Oppressed or Ignorant.” After preaching these doctrines in Malacca with success, he evidently proceeded farther east, stopping at Palembang and Bruney and reaching Sulu about 1450. The hospitality with which he was received at Bwansa points to success in his mission to a degree that enabled him later to marry the Princess Paramisuli, the daughter of Raja Baginda. He established mosques there and taught religion and law; and the people and chiefs actually abandoned their former gods and practiced the new religion and observed its commandments. This process of reformation and conversion was no doubt slow and gradual, but it was real and sure. There is no evidence to show that Abu Bakr had any military forces by virtue of which he could assume military authority and rule after Baginda’s death. But it is perfectly credible that Raja Baginda, being without a male heir, appointed Abu Bakr, his son-in-law and chief judge and priest, as his heir, and delegated to him all the authority he exercised over Bwansa and the Island of Sulu. This it appears was acquiesced in by the native chiefs who accepted Abu Bakr as their temporal overlord, as well as their spiritual master. Claiming descent from Mohammed, he assumed the powers of a caliph and entitled himself sultan. The Sulus as a rule refer to him as As-Sultan ash-Sharif al-Hashimi, meaning the Sultan, the Hashimite Sharif or noble. The words Mohammed and Abu Bakr are generally left out when he is mentioned in prayer or in ordinary discourse. Having established the church, his next aim, after ascending the throne of Sulu, was the political reorganization of the government. This he undertook to frame on the same principles as those of an Arabian sultanate, giving himself all the power and prerogatives of a caliph. In enforcing such claims of absolute sovereignty, Abu Bakr declared to the people and their local chiefs that the widows, the orphans, and the land were his by right. This the people hesitated to submit to, and another measure was adopted which reconciled the interests of all parties. They agreed that all the shores of the island and all that territory within which the royal gong or drum could be heard should be the sultan’s personal property, and that the rest of the island should be divided among the subordinate chiefs and their people. The island was accordingly divided into five administrative districts, over each one of which one panglima exercised power subject to the supervision and superior authority of the sultan. These districts were again divided into smaller divisions, which were administered by subordinate officers or chiefs called maharaja, orangkaya, laksamana, parukka, etc. The districts were called Parang, Pansul, Lati, Gi’tung, and Lu’uk. The boundaries which it seemed necessary at that time to define were marked by large trees, none of which is living at present. Thus a sangay13 tree separated Parang from Pansul. The location of this tree was at a point near Bud Agad and the stream Agahun, which runs down from Tumangtangis toward Maymbung. A bawnu13 tree separated Pansul from Lati. This tree was located at a place called Indung, intermediate between Asturias and the walled town of Jolo. A mampalam13 tree called Tarak separated Lati from Lu’uk. It was in the vicinity of the settlement of Su’. A variety of durian tree named Siggal-saggal formed the boundary of Lati and Gi’tung. According to later usage, these districts are defined as follows: Parang is the western district lying west of a line passing through a point east of the summit of Tumangtangis and a point on the southern coast 3 miles west of Maymbung. A line passing through Mount Pula and a point a little east of Maymbung marks the boundary between Pansul on the west and Lati and Gi’tung on the east. The watershed is generally considered as the dividing line between Lati and Gi’tung. A line joining Su’ on the north and Lubuk on the south separates Lati and Gi’tung from Lu’uk. A sixth district has lately been carved out and termed Tandu, forming the easternmost part of the island. A line joining Sukuban on the south and Limawa on the north divides Tandu and Lu’uk. The government thus organized was conducted in conformity with local customs and laws modified to such an extent as not to be repugnant and contrary to Mohammedan laws and the precepts of the Quran. To preserve this consistency, a code of laws was made and promulgated by Abu Bakr. This, once established, became the guide of all the subordinate officers of the state, who, as a rule, observed it and carried out its instructions. The general lines on which Abu Bakr conducted his government seem to have been followed very closely by all his successors. Such an adventurous and aggressive man as he was could not have stopped within the limits of the island. In all probability he pushed out in various directions, but no records have so far been found which give any account of the conquests he made or the limits of his empire. Abu Bakr lived thirty years in Sulu and died about 1480. The dynasty founded by Abu Bakr ruled with a firmer hand and attained considerable power and fame. The new organization establishing law and order, consolidated the forces of the state and increased its influence on the outside world. Islam added a new element of strength and another stimulus to campaign and conquest. The Sulus never exceeded 60,000 in number, yet we learn that, prior to the arrival of Magellan, their power was felt all over Luzon and the Bisayan Islands, the Celebes Sea, Palawan, North Borneo, and the China Sea, and their trade extended from China and Japan, at the one extreme, to Malacca, Sumatra, and Java at the other. Abu Bakr was succeeded by his second son, Kamalud-Din. Alawad-Din, the elder son, was weak-minded and was evidently not supported by the ministers of the state. The next three sultans who followed were Diraja, Upu, and Digunung. Their full names are, the Sultan Amirul Umara14 Maharaja Diraja, the Sultan Mu?izzul Mutawadi?in15 Maharaja Upu, the Sultan Nasirud-Din Awal16 Digunung17 (or Habud18). The sixth sultan was Mohammedul Halim19 Pangiran Buddiman. During his reign Governor SandÉ equipped and directed large expeditions to Borneo and Sulu. The armada sent to Sulu was commanded by Capt. Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa and reached the town of Jolo in June, 1578. It is asserted that Rodriguez defeated Pangiran and exacted tribute from the Sulus. Rodriguez, however, did not occupy Jolo, and no permanent advantage was derived from his victory. Figueroa’s expedition against Sulu This invasion marked the beginning of a state of war between Sulu and Spain, which covered a period of three hundred years and caused considerable devastation and loss of life. It cost Spain an immense loss of men and money and finally brought on the decline of Sulu and its end as an independent state. The magnitude of this strife, its far-reaching effects, and its bearing on the Spanish and American occupation of Sulu, invites special attention to the causes of the war and the Sulu character which it depicts. The expedition to Jolo formed part of and immediately followed the expedition which was directed by Governor SandÉ against Borneo. There is no doubt that, besides the reasons SandÉ gave for the expedition to Borneo, he was really actuated by jealousy of the Portuguese, whose influence had reached Bruney and the Moluccas, and by a strong desire to conquer Borneo, Sulu, Mindanao, and the Moluccas. His reasons for sending the expedition against Sulu are best given in his letter of instructions to Capt. Rodriguez de Figueroa, which is extremely interesting and is herein quoted in full:20 That which you, Capt. Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa, shall observe on the expedition which you are about to make, God our Lord helping, is as follows: From this city and Island of Borneo, God willing, you shall go to the Islands of Sulu, where you shall endeavor to reduce that chief and his people to the obedience of his Majesty. You shall bargain with them as to what tribute they shall pay, which shall be in pearls, as they are wont to give to the King of Bruney. You shall exercise great care and, if possible, much mildness; for it is of importance that those islands should not become depopulated; therefore, in case they receive you peaceably, you shall treat them well. And, in addition to the above, you must order that, besides the tribute that they are to pay in pearls, they shall obtain as many of them as possible, so that we, the Spaniards or Castilians, may buy them; that they must trade with us from now on; that every year Castilians will go to their lands with cloths and merchandise from China, of whatever they shall declare that they may need. You shall inform yourself of their needs; and if they wish to come to our settlements you shall give them permission to go freely to Manila and to come to Borneo, although not to steal. Item: You shall find out from them the whereabouts of the artillery and anchors of a ship lost there some three years ago; and you shall seek it and see that it be brought you with all haste. You shall keep close watch over the artillery, ammunition, vessels, sails, and other like things pertaining to the armed fleet; and you shall deprive them of those supplies, for it is notorious that those people are common marauders. And because of my information that the chief who calls himself lord of Sulu is a Bornean, and owns houses in this city of Bruney; that he fought against us in the naval battle, and that he fled to Sulu, where he is now; and since I am told that he took two galleys and three small vessels, artillery and ammunition, you shall exercise the utmost despatch to obtain the said galleys, vessels, artillery, and ammunition. If he acquiesce, you shall give him a passport. You shall see whether he has any children; and if so, you shall take one, and tell him that he must come to see me in Bruney in February. And, as I have said, this must be done if possible gently, in order that no people may be killed. You shall tell him that it will be to their advantage to be vassals of his Majesty and our allies. If they do not act respectfully, and it shall be necessary to punish them in another manner, you shall do so. And inasmuch as the Sulus, as is well known, are open pirates, whose only ambition is to steal, and to assault men in order to sell them elsewhere—especially as they go annually for plunder among all the Pintados21 Islands, which are under his Majesty’s dominion—you shall try to ascertain the Pintados slaves among them, in order to return such to their homes, especially those who are Christians. And, as I have said, you shall deprive them of such vessels as seem to be used for raids, leaving them their fishing vessels, so that if the said lord of Sulu so desire, he can come to confer reasonably with me. Thus you shall ascertain who has vessels, and who can inflict injuries; and you shall command them expressly to settle down on their land, to cultivate, sow, and harvest, develop the pearl industry, and cease to be pirates. You shall order them to raise fowls and cattle. You shall try to ascertain their number, and bring it to me in writing, in order that I may see it, together with the distance from these islands to the Sulu Islands, information regarding the food, water, and healthfulness of that land, and other things that may occur to you. And you shall tell the people in my name that they shall tame for me a couple of elephants, and that I shall send for those animals and pay for them. After having finished affairs in Sulu, if time permits, you shall, God willing, go to the Island of Mindanao. There you shall try, by the most convenient methods and with friendliness, to reduce the chief of the river of Mindanao, and the other chiefs of that island, and of those near by, to the obedience of his Majesty, giving him to understand what they will gain in becoming his Majesty’s vassals and our allies, and in having trade with us. And, in order that the tribute may not prevent them from making peace with us, you shall not ask them for any tribute; but you shall take what they give freely, and nothing more, and in such form as they are willing to give. Thus you shall suit their convenience in everything pertaining to them, and cause them to understand the great expenses of his Majesty in this land. You shall also tell them that the gain therefrom affects them chiefly, since we come to teach them our civilization, and most of all the service of God, our Lord, who created and redeemed them, and of whom they are ignorant; and how to live in accord with natural law, as is their obligation. For this purpose you shall tell them that you are going to their land for two principal reasons: The first is that they should cease to be pirates, who rob and harry the weak, and enslave wherever and whomsoever they can, selling their captives outside of their own island, and separating them from their wives and children; and that they must cease to commit other like cruelties and thefts, and must become good and virtuous men, who shall grow to merit the second and principal reason for going to their lands. You shall give them to understand that they are ignorant of God, our Lord, who created and redeemed them, so that when they know him they may serve him and become good. It is quite evident that they will gain very much in these things, and therefore it is right that they aid us and give us something. This shall be at their own will, as above said. Item: You shall order them not to admit any more preachers of the doctrine of Mohammed, since it is evil and false, and that of the Christians alone is good. And because we have been in these regions so short a time, the lord of Mindanao has been deceived by the preachers of Bruney, and the people have become Moros. You shall tell them that our object is that he be converted to Christianity; and that he must allow us freely to preach the law of the Christians, and the natives must be allowed to go to hear the preaching and to be converted, without receiving any harm from the chiefs. And you shall try to ascertain who are the preachers of the sect of Mohammed, and shall seize and bring them before me and you shall burn or destroy the house where that accursed doctrine has been preached, and you shall order that it be not rebuilt. Item: You shall order that the Indians22 shall not go outside of their island to trade; and you shall seize those vessels used for plundering excursions, leaving them those which, in your judgment, are used for trade and fishing. You shall take also what artillery and ammunition they have. You shall ascertain the harvest seasons and products of the land; the gold mines and the places where they wash gold; the number of inhabitants and their settlements; and their customs. You must especially secure information regarding cinnamon, in order to ascertain if it is found along the river, or if one must go to Cavite for it, and why it is not as good as that which the Portuguese take to Castilla. You shall ascertain how they cut and strip it from the tree, and if it be of importance that it dry on the tree, or in what other manner it should be treated, for I have been told that that obtained from these districts in the past has not been good and has not a good sale in Spain. And, since it might happen that the people will not make peace, and may offer fight, and show disrespect, then you shall punish them as you deem best, taking special care not to trust them; for it is evident that before all else they will, if possible, commit some treachery. You must not await such an occasion, for we know already their treachery against his Majesty’s fleet commanded by Villalobos, certain of whose men they killed under assurances of safety; and they seized a boat. In that treachery all the inhabitants of the islands were participants; for four or five thousand of the said natives attacked one small boat, which contained four or five Spaniards. Likewise many people took part in the killing of the said Villalobos’s master-of-camp, and other soldiers, in that same year. You shall remind them of these things, and warn them; for, from now on, we shall destroy them and their generation. And, since it might happen that, without any occasion of war or peace, the said natives flee to the mountains, you shall order that certain of the said natives summon them; and, when they have come, you shall discuss the matter with them. If they refuse to come, you shall, in conformity with your orders, remain there a given time. And if they continue to refuse to come down, you shall leave them, and shall return, without permitting their houses to be burned or their palm trees to be cut down. Neither shall anything be stolen from them; but you shall take only what is absolutely necessary for food and the food and other things necessary to provision your vessels for the return trip. You shall try to secure information of the Island of Linboton, as well as of Batachina and Celebes, so as to advise me thereof; and you shall do this in accord with the time limit I have set for you to make this exploration, and you shall observe the same rule as in that of Mindanao. In order that we may allot in encomiendas23 whatever people are found in these districts, you shall bring me a signed notarial writ. Thus, as those lands have no other owner, the natives thereof may be reduced to the obedience of his Majesty, according to his will—and by war, if the natives begin it, so that war on our part may be just, and that the same justice may continue, so that we can compel them to obey, and impose tributes upon them. You shall exercise much diligence in this and see to it that these orders be carried out carefully and intelligently. God willing, I shall be in Bruney by the end of the month of January next—or, at the latest, by the eighth of February—with the fleet and all the necessaries that must be brought from Manila, and that which is here. And at that time your grace shall come to Bruney with the fleet that you have, and with all the people that you have or shall have in the Pintados, so that we may do here whatever is proper for the service of his Majesty, to which we are bound. These instructions must not be disregarded in any point, unless I advise you to the contrary by letter. And to this end you shall see that all who live and dwell there be commissioned for the above, in addition to their own duties. Given at Bruney, May twenty-three, one thousand five hundred and seventy-eight. If the natives of Mindanao or of any other place shall give tribute according to the above, you shall act according to the usual custom in these islands—namely, you shall take one-half and place it to the account of his Majesty, while the other half shall be distributed among the soldiers. Given ut supra. Doctor Francisco de SandÉ. Before me:
Alonso Beltran,
His Majesty’s notary.
Reasons for hostilities The above shows clearly that Governor SandÉ intended, first, to reduce Sulu to a vassal state; second, to exact tribute in pearls; third, to secure the trade of Sulu for the Spaniards; fourth, to punish the Sultan of Sulu for the help he rendered the Sultan of Bruney against the Spanish forces; fifth, to rescue the Christian slaves in Sulu; sixth, to deprive the Sulus of their artillery and ammunition and of all vessels except fishing vessels, in order to stop their piracy; seventh, to compel the Sulus to become peaceful agriculturists; eighth, to uproot the “accursed doctrine” of Mohammed and to convert the Sulus to the Christian religion. The leader of the expedition was directed to carry out these instructions as carefully and as gently as possible; and there is no reason to think that he failed to comply with his orders to the letter. But no matter how careful and faithful Captain Rodriguez could have been, it was not difficult for the Sulus to understand the purpose of the expedition and the motives of the Spanish Government, and it does not stand to reason that such people would yield to vassalage and receive a direct insult to their religion without resentment and without a struggle. Governor SandÉ knew the reputation of the Sulus, but he must have underestimated their strength and failed to provide garrisons for the occupation of the conquered territory and the protection of peaceful natives. In January, 1579, Governor SandÉ sent an expedition to Mindanao, commanded by Capt. Gabriel de Ribera, under instructions similar to those given to Captain Rodriguez. Ribera had additional orders to visit Jolo and collect the tribute for that year, and special stress was laid on procuring from the Sultan of Sulu “two or three tame elephants.” Ribera accomplished nothing in Mindanao; the natives abandoned their villages and fled to the interior. On his return to Kawite or Caldera, he met a deputation from Jolo, which brought insignificant tribute and informed him of the existence of famine in Sulu and the extreme distress of the people. He returned their tribute, receiving in its place a cannon, which the Sulus had obtained from a wrecked Portuguese galley. Ribera then returned to Cebu, without producing any significant effect on conditions in Sulu. In April, 1580, Governor SandÉ was relieved by Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo, who did not take the same interest in Borneo and Sulu. In the same year the kingdom of Portugal and its rich eastern colonies were annexed to the Spanish domain. No danger could then be expected from the direction of Borneo and Sulu, and the ambitious new Governor-General turned his attention to more desirable fields of conquest. Piracy was not the primary cause of this invasion of Sulu. Public sentiment was not so strong against slavery in those days as it is now; for the Spaniards and other leading civilized nations were then diligently pursuing a profitable trade in it between the west coast of Africa and the West Indies and America. Piracy is always a crime among nations, but it can not be urged as the principal and leading cause of this war or as sufficient reason in itself for the early precipitation of such a deadly conflict between Sulu and Spain. Religion, on the other hand, was declared by Governor SandÉ to be the “principal reason for going to their lands.” He ordered the Sulus not to admit any more preachers of Islam, but to allow the Spanish priests to preach Christianity to them. The Mohammedan preachers he directed to be arrested and brought to him, and the mosques to be burned or destroyed and not to be rebuilt. Part of the instructions the Adelantado24 Miguel Lopez de Legaspi received before embarking on his expedition to the Philippines read as follows: And you shall have especial care that, in all your negotiations with the natives of those regions some of the religious accompanying you be present, both in order to avail yourself of their good counsel and advice, and so that the natives may see and understand your high estimation of them; for seeing this, and the great reverence of the soldiers toward them, they themselves will hold the religious in great respect. This will be of great moment, so that, when the religious shall understand their language, or have interpreters through whom they may make them understand our holy Catholic faith, the Indians shall put entire faith in them; since you are aware that the chief thing sought after by his Majesty is the increase of our holy Catholic faith, and the salvation of the souls of those infidels.25 In 1566, a petition was sent from Cebu to the King of Spain, bearing the signatures of Martin de Goiti, Guido de Labezari, and the other leading officers under Legaspi, setting forth, among other requests, the following: That the Moros, “because they try to prevent our trade with the natives and preach to them the religion of Mohammed,” may be enslaved and lose their property. That slave traffic be allowed, “that the Spaniards may make use of them, as do the chiefs and natives of those regions, both in mines and other works that offer themselves.”26 In a letter addressed to Legaspi King Philip II said: We have also been petitioned in your behalf concerning the Moro Islands in that land, and how those men come to trade and carry on commerce, hindering the preaching of the holy gospel and disturbing you. We give you permission to make such Moros slaves and to seize their property. You are warned that you can make them slaves only if the said Moros are such by birth and choice, and if they come to preach their Mohammedan doctrine or to make war against you or against the Indians, who are our subjects and in our royal service.
In a letter addressed to King Philip II Bishop Salazar writes, June 27, 1588, as follows: The second point is that, in the Island of Mindanao, which is subject to your Majesty, and for many years has paid you tribute, the law of Mohammed has been publicly proclaimed, for somewhat more than three years, by preachers from Bruney and Ternate who have come there—some of them even, it is believed, having come from Mecca. They have erected and are now building mosques, and the boys are being circumcised, and there is a school where they are taught the Quran. I was promptly informed of this, and urged the president to supply a remedy therefor at once, in order that that pestilential fire should not spread in these islands. I could not persuade them to go, and thus the hatred of Christianity is there; and we are striving no more to remedy this than if the matter did not concern us. Such are the calamities and miseries to which we have come, and the punishments which God inflicts upon us.27 In drawing a contract with Capt. Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa, in 1591, for the pacification and conquest of Mindanao, the Governor and Captain-General Gomez Perez DasmariÑas makes the following declarations: His Majesty orders and charges me, by his royal instructions and decrees, as the most worthy and important thing in these islands, to strive for the propagation of our holy faith among the natives herein, their conversion to the knowledge of the true God, and their reduction to the obedience of His holy church and of the king, our sovereign. *** Moreover, the Island of Mindanao is so fertile and well inhabited, and teeming with Indian settlements, wherein to plant the faith, *** and is rich in gold mines and placers, and in wax, cinnamon, and other valuable drugs. And although the said island has been seen, discussed, and explored, *** no effort has been made to enter and reduce it, nor has it been pacified or furnished with instruction or justice—quite to the contrary being, at the present time, hostile and refusing obedience to his Majesty; and no tribute, or very little, is being collected. *** Besides the above facts, by delaying the pacification of the said island greater wrongs, to the offense and displeasure of God and of his Majesty, are resulting daily; for I am informed that the king of that island has made all who were paying tribute to his Majesty tributary to himself by force of arms, and after putting many of them to death while doing it; so that now each Indian pays him one tae28 of gold. I am also told that he destroyed and broke into pieces, with many insults, a cross that he found, when told that it was adored by the Christians; and that in Magindanao, the capital and residence of the said king, are Bornean Indians who teach and preach publicly the false doctrine of Mohammed, and have mosques; besides these, there are also people from Ternate—gunners, armorers, and powder-makers, all engaged in their trades—who at divers times have killed many Spaniards when the latter were going to collect the tribute, *** without our being able to mete out punishment, because of lack of troops. By reason of the facts above recited, and because all of the said wrongs and troubles will cease with the said pacification; and, when it is made, we are sure that the surrounding kingdoms of Bruney, Sulu, Java, and other provinces, will become obedient to his Majesty: therefore, in order that the said island may be pacified, subdued, and settled, and the gospel preached to the natives; and that justice may be established among them, and they be taught to live in a civilized manner, and to recognize God and His holy law, I have tried to entrust the said pacification to a person of such character that he may be entrusted with it.29 It is plain, therefore, that the sentiment of the times justified war on the Moros for the cause of religion alone, and that, though the primary object was conquest, no doubt the religious motives of the Spaniards were stronger than their desire to check piracy. But, of all the Christian nations, the Spaniards should have been most aware of the tenacity, determination, and courage with which the Mohammedans defend their faith, and the Sulus were no exception to the rule, for they had been born and reared in that religion for more than four generations. A wiser policy on the part of Governor SandÉ would have either let the Moros of Sulu and Mindanao alone, or effected a complete reduction of the state of Sulu and immediate occupation of the coasts of Mindanao with strong forces; for it appears from all accounts that neither the Sulus nor the Magindanaos were as strongly organized then as they were a generation later, and either alliance or war should have been easier then than afterwards. The Spaniards at that time were excellent warriors. Their conquests of the Bisayan Islands and Luzon were rapid and brilliant, but it appears that the system of government which they inaugurated there met with distinct failure the minute it was extended to the more organized communities and the greater forces they encountered in the south. The Sulus, on the other hand, fought in the defense of their national independence and religion, and never found life too dear to sacrifice in that cause. They resented the treatment of Spain, and in their rage and desire for revenge built stronger forts and fleets and became fiercer pirates. Rule of Batara Shah Tangah Pangiran must have died about 1579 and was followed by Sultan Batara Shah Tangah, who is in all probability the Paquian or Paguian Tindig of the Spanish writers. Tangah’s claim to the sultanate was strongly contested by his cousin, Abdasaolan30 who ruled over Basilan. The latter attacked Jolo with a strong force, but failed to reduce its forts. Tangah, however, felt insecure and went to Manila to request Governor SandÉ’s aid and returned to Sulu with two Spanish armed boats (caracoas).31 Abdasaolan, whose power had in the meantime increased, prepared for defense and watched for the advance of the Sultan’s boat. Finding that the caracoas were at a considerable distance from the Sultan’s boat he manned two light salisipans32 with a strong force and dispatched them, with speed to intercept Tangah. The Sultan’s party was completely surprised, and in the fight that resulted Tangah was killed. On reaching Jolo the Spanish forces attacked the town. The Sulus fought valiantly, but their fort was reduced. The officers in command of the caracoas assembled the people and had Raja Bungsu, who was wounded in the fight, elected sultan to succeed Tangah. The full title of Bungsu was “The Sultan Muwallil Wasit Bungsu.”33 Figueroa’s expedition against Mindanao In 1596 Capt. Esteban Rodriguez led an expedition into Mindanao, for its conquest and pacification. It is maintained that he proceeded up the Mindanao River as far as Bwayan, the capital of the upper Mindanao Valley. Don Esteban Rodriguez prepared men and ships, and what else was necessary for the enterprise, and with some galleys, galleots, frigates, vireys,34 barangays,34 and lapis,35 set out with two hundred and fourteen Spaniards for the Island of Mindanao, in February of the same year, of 1596. He took Capt. Juan de la Xara as his master-of-camp, and some religious of the Society of Jesus to give instruction, as well as many natives for the service of the camp and fleet. He reached Mindanao River after a good voyage, where the first settlements, named Tampakan and Lumakan, both hostile to the people of Bwayan, received him peacefully and in a friendly manner, and joined his fleet. They were altogether about six thousand men. Without delay they advanced about 8 leagues farther up the river against Bwayan, the principal settlement of the island, where its greatest chief had fortified himself on many sides. Arrived at the settlement, the fleet cast anchor and immediately landed a large proportion of the troops with their arms. But before reaching the houses and fort, and while going through some thickets [cacatal]36 near the shore, they encountered some of the men of Bwayan, who were coming to meet them with their kampilan,37 carazas38 and other weapons, and who attacked them on various sides. The latter [i.e., the Spaniards and their allies], on account of the swampiness of the place and the denseness of the thickets [cacatal], could not act unitedly as the occasion demanded, although the master-of-camp and the captains that led them exerted themselves to keep the troops together and to encourage them to face the natives. Meanwhile Governor Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa was watching events from his flagship, but not being able to endure the confusion of his men, seized his weapons and hastened ashore with three or four companions and a servant who carried his helmet in order that he might be less impeded in his movements. But as he was crossing a part of the thickets [cacatal] where the fight was waging, a hostile Indian stepped out unseen from one side and dealt the governor a blow on the head with his kampilan that stretched him on the ground badly wounded.39 The governor’s followers cut the Mindanao to pieces and carried the governor back to the camp. Shortly after the master-of-camp, Juan de la Xara, withdrew his troops to the fleet, leaving behind several Spaniards who had fallen in the encounter. The governor did not regain consciousness, for the wound was very severe, and died next day. The fleet after that loss and failure left that place, and descended the river to Tampakan, where it anchored among the friendly inhabitants and their settlements. The master-of-camp, Juan de la Xara, had himself chosen by the fleet as successor in the government and enterprise. He built a fort with arigues40 and palms near Tampakan, and founded a Spanish settlement to which he gave the name of Murcia. He began to make what arrangements he deemed best, in order to establish himself and run things independently of, and without acknowledging the governor of Manila, without whose intervention and assistance this enterprise could not be continued.41 Bwayan was 30 miles up the river and 25 miles above Magindanao or Kotabato where Bwisan, the Sultan of Magindanao, was strongly fortified. It is difficult to believe that Rodriguez could advance so far even with a small scouting party. A careful review of the Spanish reports referring to these early campaigns in Mindanao indicates that Bwayan has been erroneously used in place of Magindanao, the ancient capital of the sultanate of Magindanao. Bent on the conquest of Mindanao, Governor Tello prepared another expedition under Gen. Juan Ronquillo42 and dispatched it by the way of Cebu. At Caldera, it was joined by the fleet of Mindanao and the whole force proceeded east in the direction of the Mindanao River, on the 6th of February, 1597. Captain Chaves arrived with his frigates at the river on the 8th of January. In a battle fought at Simway to capture Moro vessels going to seek aid from Ternate he had a leg cut off and received a shot in the helmet above the ear. Ronquillo arrived at the mouth of the river on February 21, and on the 17th of April he engaged a Moro fleet with 40 arquebusiers and defeated them, killing a number of their brave men and some Ternatans without losing any of his men except 5 Bisayans. Leaving a guard of 34 men under Chaves at the fort of Tampakan he advanced up the river with a force of 230 sailors and gunners. The enemy retired behind some parapets as soon as the artillery opened upon them, and brought some artillery to bear on the flagship (one of the galleys), but could not retard the Spanish advance. “I answered their fire with so great readiness,” said Ronquillo in his report, “that I forced them to withdraw their artillery. But, as if they were goblins, they remained here behind a bush or a tree, firing at us without being seen.” Reinforced by the chief of the hill tribes, Lumakan, with 500 natives, Ronquillo resumed the fighting after the delay of a few days. “Finally,” continued Ronquillo, “I planted my battery of eight pieces somewhat over 100 paces from the fort. Although I battered the fort hotly, I could not effect a breach through which to make an assault. All the damage that I did them by day, they repaired by night. *** “I was very short of ammunition, for I had only 3,000 arquebus bullets left, and very few cannon balls; and both would be spent in one day’s fighting, during which, should we not gain the fort, we would be lost—and with no power to defend ourselves while withdrawing our artillery and camp. *** “I reconnoitered the fort and its situation, for it is located at the entrance of a lagoon, thus having only water at the back, and swampy and marshy ground at the sides. It has a frontage of more than 1,000 paces, is furnished with very good transversals, and is well supplied with artillery and arquebuses. Moreover it has a ditch of water more than 4 brazas43 wide and 2 deep, and thus there was a space of dry ground of only 15 paces where it was possible to attack; and this space was bravely defended, and with the greatest force of the enemy. The inner parts were water, where they sailed in vessels, while we had no footing at all.” “Again, I reflected that those who had awaited us so long, had waited with the determination to die in defense of the fort; and if they should see the contest ending unfavorably for them, no one would prevent their flight. Further, if they awaited the assault it would cost me the greater part of my remaining ammunition, and my best men; while, if the enemy fled, nothing would be accomplished, but on the contrary a long, tedious, and costly war would be entered upon. Hence, with the opinion and advice of the captains, I negotiated for peace, and told them that I would admit them to friendship under the following conditions: “First, that first and foremost they must offer homage to his Majesty, and pay something as recognition” (a gold chain). Second, “that all the natives who had been taken from the Pintados Islands [Bisayan Islands] last year, must be restored.” Third, “that they must break the peace and confederation made with the people of Ternate, and must not admit the latter into their country.” Fourth, “that they must be friends with Danganlibor and Lumakan, *** and must not make war on their vassals.” Fifth, “that all the chiefs must go to live in their old villages.”44 Ronquillo later reported the place indefensible and was authorized to retire to Caldera. Ronquillo must have advanced as far as the settlement of Kalangnan or possibly Magindanao (Kotabato), the capital of Sultan Bwisan. The report he rendered relative to the country, its people and chiefs, is very interesting and an excerpt of the same is herewith quoted because of its bearing on conditions throughout Moroland: The leading chiefs collect tribute from their vassals. *** These Indians are not like those in Luzon, but are accustomed to power and sovereignty. Some collect five or six thousand tributes. *** Hitherto it has not been possible to tell your lordship anything certain of this country except that it will be of but little advantage to his Majesty, but a source of great expense. It has far fewer inhabitants than was reported, and all are very poor, so that their breakfast consists only in cleaning their arms, and their work in using them, and not in cultivating the land, which is low and swampy in this river. There is no chief who can raise 20 taes of gold. Rice is very scarce; in the hills is found a small amount, which is used for food by the chiefs only. There are some swine, and a few fowls that are very cunning, and less fruit.45 These early expeditions of the Spaniards against the Moros undoubtedly aroused in the latter a great desire for vengeance. The forces the Spaniards sent to conquer Mindanao and Sulu were very small. Such forces would have been strong enough to reduce any island of the Bisayan group, or even Luzon, but against the Moros they proved insufficient and inadequate. They however succeeded in provoking bitter hostilities and marked the beginning of a long period of terror and bloodshed. Moro raids46 In 1599 combined Moro fleets invaded and plundered the coasts of the Bisayan Islands, Cebu, Negros, and Panay. Captain Paches, who was in command of the fort of Caldera, attacked the northern coast of the Island of Sulu. After landing at some point, it was observed by the Sulus that his fuses were wet and that his guns could not fire well. They then rushed his position, killed him, and dispersed his forces. The following year saw the return of a larger and still more dreadful expedition. The people of Panay abandoned their towns and fled into the mountains under the belief that these terrible attacks had been inspired by the Spaniards. To check these pirates, Juan Gallinato, with a force of 200 Spaniards, was sent against Sulu, but like so many expeditions that followed his, he accomplished nothing. *** “From this time until the present day” (about the year 1800), wrote ZuÑiga, “these Moros have not ceased to infest our colonies; innumerable are the Indians they have captured, the towns they have looted, the rancherias they have destroyed, and the vessels they have taken. It seems as if God has preserved them for vengeance on the Spaniards that they have not been able to subject them in two hundred years, in spite of the expeditions sent against them, the armaments sent almost every year to pursue them. In a very little while we conquered all the islands of the Philippines, but the little Island of Sulu, a part of Mindanao, and the other islands nearby, we have not been able to subjugate to this day.”47 Gallinatos’s expedition occurred in 1602.48 After three months of protracted fighting at Jolo, he was unable to reduce the fortifications of the town and retired to Panay. In 1616 a large Sulu fleet destroyed Pantao in the Camarines and the shipyards of Cavite and exacted large sums for the ransom of Spanish prisoners. Moro fleets in 1625 sacked Katbalogan in Samar. In 1628 Governor Tavora sent an expedition to Sulu under Cristobol de Lugo. Cristobol disembarked half of his infantry, sacked the town of Jolo, set part of it on fire and sailed back to Cebu. In 1629 the Moros raided Samar and Leyte. In 1630 an armada composed of 70 vessels and having 350 Spanish and 2,000 native soldiers, under Lorenzo de Olaso Ochotegui, arrived at Jolo. Olaso misdirected his forces and, advancing too near to the wall of the fort, was wounded in his side and fell. He was rescued by the officers who followed him, but the troops were demoralized and retired. The expedition, however, landed at various points on the coast and burned and pillaged small settlements.49 In the same year P. Gutierrez came to Mindanao on a mission to Corralat.50 On his return he met Tuan Baluka, wife of Raja Bungsu, at Zamboanga. Baluka urged P. Gutierrez to delay his departure from Zamboanga and warned him of the danger of meeting the Sulu expedition under Datu Ache. He, however, continued on his way and was overtaken by Datu Ache’s force, but on account of the message and flag he delivered to Ache from Tuan Baluka, he was allowed to proceed safely. For some time the Jesuits had been urging upon the Philippine Government the occupation of the southern coast of Mindanao. This meant an advance into the enemy’s camp and a bloody struggle for supremacy in the southern seas. The consequences of such a step were foreseen by the Government and very few governors would have dared undertake such a grave responsibility. In 1635, Governor Juan Cerezo de Salamanca was petitioned by the Jesuits to establish an advance post of the Spanish forces at Zamboanga for the protection of missionaries and the Christians who had to navigate in the southern seas. Salamanca granted their request and sent Capt. Juan de Chaves, who disembarked at Zamboanga on the 6th of April, 1635. The force under Captain Chaves consisted of 300 Spanish and 1,000 native soldiers. In June they began the construction of a stone fort on a plan designed by the Jesuit missionary P. Melchor de Vera, who was an expert engineer. The advantages to be derived from the position of this garrison were demonstrated before the year was over. As a piratical fleet was returning from Cuyo, Mindoro, and the Kalamian Islands, the favorable opportunity was watched for, and as the two divisions of the fleet separated, the Spanish forces pursued Corralat’s pirates and dealt them a deadly blow in the neighborhood of Point Flechas, killing about 300 Moros and saving 120 Christian captives.51 Gen. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera relieved Salamanca before the end of the year 1635 and continued the same policy with additional vigor and great ability. He quickly resolved upon attacking the Moros in their own strongholds, and thought that by crushing their power at home he would be able to put an end to their piratical raids. He arrived at Zamboanga February 22, 1636, proceeded first to Mindanao, fought Corralat and destroyed some of his forts and sailed back to Manila.52 Corcuera returned to Zamboanga in December, 1637, and prepared for an expedition against Sulu. On January 1, 1638, he embarked for Sulu with 600 Spanish soldiers, 1,000 native troops, and many volunteers and adventurers. He had 80 vessels all told and arrived at Jolo on the 4th.53 Anticipating an invasion, Sultan Bungsu had strengthened his garrisons and called for aid and reËnforcements from Basilan, Tapul, and Tawi-tawi. On his arrival Corcuera found the town well fortified and the enemy strongly intrenched. The Moros were well disciplined and had a well organized guard. The forts occupied strategic points and were strongly defended; the trenches were well laid, and the Moros shot well and fought fearlessly. Corcuera besieged the town with all his forces and attacked it repeatedly and valiantly using powerful artillery, but he could not reduce it. Several efforts to tunnel the walls or effect a breach in them by mines were frustrated by the vigilance and intrepidity of the Sulus. The siege lasted three months and a half, at the end of which time the Sulus evacuated the town and retired to the neighboring hills, where they intended to make the next stand. Corcuera, taking possession of the town, reconstructed its forts and established three posts, one on the hill, one at the river, and one on the sandbank in front of the town. The garrison he established there consisted of 200 Spanish soldiers and an equal number of Pampangans, under the command of Capt. GinÉs Ros and Gaspar de Morales. In May Corcuera returned to Manila with all the triumph of a conqueror, leaving Gen. Pedro Almonte, the senior officer next to himself in command of the expedition, as governor of Zamboanga and Ternate and chief of the forces in the south. Soon after the establishment of the Jolo garrison, the Sulus under Datu Ache attacked the soldiers in the quarry and killed a few Spaniards and captured 40 Chinese and Negroes (galley slaves). This and other depredations committed by the Sulus from time to time, some of which were provoked by the ill behavior of the Spanish officers and troops, forced Almonte in June, 1639, to come over to Sulu and take the field a second time. With 3 captains and 1,200 Spanish and native soldiers, he marched over the island, attacked the Sulus in their homes, burned their houses and killed every man he could reach. It is said that he hung 500 heads on the trees, liberated 112 Christian captives, and captured quantities of arms. When he asked the Gimbaha Sulus (at one of the settlements of Parang) to submit to the sovereignty of Spain, they refused to recognize his authority, challenged his forces, and fought him desperately. They wore helmets and armor and used spears and swords. On one occasion, Captain Cepeda engaged them in battle and returned with 300 captives, leaving on the field 400 dead, a fearful lesson to those who survived. Cepeda lost 7 Spaniards and 20 natives only, but he had a large number wounded. Not satisfied with the havoc he wrought on the Island of Sulu, and desiring to follow and catch the fugitive sultan, Almonte invaded the other large islands and followed the sultan and the datus all over the Archipelago. At Tawi-tawi, however, he met with a reverse, and the captain who led the expedition returned with considerable loss. Soon after Almonte’s departure, the Sulus who had fled returned and lost no time or opportunity in harassing the garrison. Several piratical excursions invaded the Bisayas and Camarines. Soon Dutch vessels, invited by Sulu emissaries sent to Java, appeared in the vicinity of Zamboanga and Jolo and threatened the Spanish garrison and incited the Moros to resist the Spaniards and attack their forces. Anticipating trouble with the Dutch, and foreseeing the danger of maintaining a garrison at Jolo under the circumstances, the Spaniards planned to evacuate the town. Accordingly on the 14th of April, 1646, they left Jolo. Before withdrawing their troops, they managed to make a treaty with the Sulus, which took the form of an alliance both offensive and defensive. The purpose of the treaty was declared to be the maintenance of peace between both parties and mutual aid against foreign enemies. In case of assistance against a foreign nation, the expenses of the war were to be defrayed by the party requesting aid. The Spanish Government recognized the supreme authority of the Sultan of Sulu from Tawi-tawi to Tutup and Pagahak, reserving sovereignty rights for the King of Spain over Tapul, Siasi, Balangingi, and Pangutaran only. In return for the evacuation of Jolo, and as a sign of brotherhood, the Sultan of Sulu promised to send yearly to Zamboanga three boats, 8 fathoms long, full of rice, and to allow the Jesuit priests to come to Jolo unmolested. Other provisions were inserted in the treaty for the exchange and redemption of slaves, criminals, or others who happened to run away from Zamboanga to Sulu and vice versa. This treaty did not remain in force for any great length of time, for we hear again in 1647 that the Sulus invaded the Bisayas and harassed the vicinity of Zamboanga. Bungsu had a very long reign marked with reverses and misfortunes. He died before 1640, and was succeeded by Sultan Nasirud Din II and Sultan Salahud Din Karamat. The latter was known to the Spanish writers as Baktial, which was his Sulu name before the sultanate. During the reign of Karamat the Philippines were threatened by a Chinese invasion from the north and by war with Holland, and the government, under the circumstances, decided to abandon Zamboanga and the Moluccas. This purpose they carried out in 1663. In the days of Karamat the Sulus became very active and made many raids in various directions. The decline of Spain’s political power and her inactivity in the century that followed the evacuation of Zamboanga caused obscurity in the Spanish records of the history of Sulu and Mindanao. The events of this century are, with few exceptions, lacking in significance and interest.54 The sultans who followed Karamat are, in the order of their succession, Shahabud Din, Mustafa Shafi?ud Din, Badarud Din I, Nasarud Din, and Alimud Din I, better known as Amirul Mu’minin (Ferdinand I of Sulu). The first three were brothers, the sons of Karamat, while the last two were the sons of Badarud Din. In 1718 Governor Bustamante reoccupied Zamboanga for the purpose of waging war against piracy. “The citadel (Fuerza del Pilar) was rebuilt on an elaborate plan under the direction of the engineer, Juan Sicarra. Besides the usual barracks, storehouses, and arsenals, there were, within the walls, a church, a hospital, and quarters for the Pampangan soldiers. Sixty-one cannon were mounted upon the defenses.” In 1725, a Chinese named Ki Kuan was sent to Manila to arrange for peace and returned with two Spanish commissioners, who made a treaty with the sultan of Sulu providing for trade between Manila and Jolo, the return or ransom of captives, and the ceding to Spain of the Island of Basilan. Notwithstanding this treaty Moro raids continued either by toleration of the sultan and datus or at their instigation. In 1730 a brother of the sultan commanded an expedition of 31 vessels, which attacked the fort of Taytay and ravaged the coast of Palawan. Another expedition spent nearly a whole year cruising and destroying among the Bisayas. In retaliation a large Spanish fleet united at Zamboanga and, under Ignacio de Irebri and Manuel del Rosal, invaded the shores of Sulu and ravaged and burned some settlements. At Bwal they found the settlement well protected and extensively fortified, so they contented themselves with destroying some plantations and burning outlying houses. At Tapul considerable damage was inflicted. A force of 600 disembarked, dispersed the Sulus, burned their settlements, destroyed many farms, the salt works, and many boats, and returned to Zamboanga. In 1732 similar raids were made and hostilities continued until 1737. Reign of Sultan Alimud Din I One of the earliest events in the reign of Alimud Din I was his ratification of the treaty of 1737. The sultan was represented in Manila by Datu Mohammed Ismael and Datu Ja?far, who signed the document. The treaty was drawn in January, 1737, by Governor-General Fernando ValdÉs y Tamon and contained five articles. The first article declared the determination of both parties to preserve permanent peace between the two states, all differences or grievances to be settled amicably, and hostilities between subjects or vassals to be strictly prohibited and punished; the second provided for alliance and mutual aid against any foreign foe. European nations were, however, excluded from the provisions of this article; the third provided for free trade between the two states, restricted by the use of passports to be issued by superior authority; the fourth provided that each state should be held responsible for all infractions of the peace committed by its subjects and should be bound to punish the same and make proper amends to the proper party; the fifth provided for the exchange of captives and return of all church images and ornaments in the possession of the Sulus. To all appearances Alimud Din I was a man of peace and a reformer. He kept his part of the treaty faithfully and piracy was actually suppressed during the whole period in which he held the reins of government. He revised the Sulu code of laws and system of justice. He caused to be translated into Sulu parts of the Quran and several Arabic texts on law and religion. He strongly urged the people to observe faithfully their religion and the ordained five daily prayers. He even went so far as to prescribe punishment for failure to observe this rule. He wanted all pandita to learn Arabic and prepared Arabic-Sulu vocabularies as a preliminary step to making the Arabic the official language of the state. He coined money, organized a small army, and tried to establish a navy. His name is foremost in the memory of the Sulus, partly because of his able administration and partly on account of the fact that he is the grandfather of all the present principal datus of the Sulus. In September, 1746, a special commission from Manila carried to Alimud Din a letter written by King Philip V in 1744, requesting the admission of Jesuit missionaries to Jolo with permission to preach the Christian religion to the Sulus. The sultan entertained the commission very hospitably and gave in their honor a royal reception and a review of the troops. A council was held in which the sultan conferred with the leading datus of Sulu and granted the request of King Philip V. He further authorized the building of a church and recommended the erection of a fort at some convenient locality for the safe protection of the missionaries. In return for this favor he requested that the Spanish Government give him, as an aid in building a navy, the sum of ?6,000, 12 piculs55 of gunpowder, 12 piculs of nails, and 1 picul of steel. This, he represented, was needed to enable him to suppress piracy and to check the depredations of his enemies in Borneo. This request the Spanish Government granted, and Jesuit missionaries entered Jolo, translated the catechism into Sulu, and distributed it freely among the people. The liberties exercised by the Jesuits in their endeavor to proselyte the Sulus and the strong friendship the sultan manifested toward them created great dissatisfaction among the people, and an opposition party was formed, under the leadership of Prince Bantilan, for the purpose of expelling the missionaries and deposing Alimud Din. Bantilan was the son of Sultan Shahabud Din and had as much right to the sultanate of Sulu as any son of Sultan Badarud Din. After the death of the latter the sultanate should have reverted to the line of Shahabud Din; but it happens very often that the sons of the last sultan are either older than those of the former or meet with more favor and are, as a rule, supported by the majority of the council of datus; thus the regular order of descent changes in favor of the stronger person. Probably Bantilan was preceded by both Nasarud Din and Alimud Din for some such reason as the above. This he resented at heart, but suppressed his resentment until this favorable opportunity offered itself. He then headed the opposition to the sultan and the missionaries and won the majority of the datus and panditas to his side. Hostilities soon increased and civil war was imminent. In an effort to assassinate the sultan, Bantilan thrust a spear at Alimud Din and inflicted a severe wound in his side or thigh. During the disturbances and confusion which followed it became dangerous for the missionaries to remain at Jolo. One of the ministers of the sultan provided them with a salisipan in which they escaped without harm and withdrew to Zamboanga. This occurred late in 1748. Overpowered, disheartened, and grieved, Alimud Din left Jolo with his family and numerous escort and came to Zamboanga, seeking the aid of Spain against Bantilan. The latter proclaimed himself sultan with the title of Mu?izzud Din,56 strengthened the defenses of his capital, and waged war on all the datus who had supported Alimud Din. His power soon became supreme, and he reigned with a strong hand. At Zamboanga Alimud Din is said to have given the officers many presents and offered the Governor Zacharias 40 male Papuan slaves, who were well dressed. Zacharias, unreasonably prejudiced and distrustful, suspected some ill design and refused the present. Not receiving sufficient attention and consideration at Zamboanga, Alimud Din asked leave to go to Manila. This granted, he sailed and arrived at Cavite January 2, 1749. At Manila “he was received with all the pomp and honor due to a prince of high rank. A house for his entertainment and his retinue of seventy persons was prepared in Binondo. A public entrance was arranged which took place some fifteen days after he reached the city. Triumphal arches were erected across the streets, which were lined with more than 2,000 native militia under arms. The sultan was publicly received in the hall of the Audiencia, where the governor promised to lay his case before the King of Spain. The sultan was showered with presents, which included chains of gold, fine garments, precious gems, and gold canes, while the Government sustained the expense of his household.”57 Following this reception, steps were taken for his conversion. His spiritual advisers cited to him the example of the Emperor Constantine whose conversion enabled him to effect triumphant conquests over his enemies. Under these representations Alimud Din expressed his desire for baptism. The governor-general, who at this time was a priest, the bishop of Nueva Segovia, was very anxious that the rite should take place; but this was opposed by his spiritual superior, the archbishop of Manila, who, with some others, entertained doubts as to the sincerity of the Sultan’s profession. “In order to accomplish his baptism, the governor sent him to his own diocese, where at Paniki, on the 29th of April, 1750, the ceremony took place with great solemnity. On the return of the party to Manila, the sultan was received with great pomp, and in his honor were held games, theatrical representations, fireworks, and bull fights. This was the high-water mark of the sultan’s popularity.58 At his baptism the sultan received the name of Ferdinand, and Spanish authors often referred to him as “Don Fernando de Alimud Din I, Catholic Sultan of JolÓ.” It is further stated that two datus and five of his principal followers were baptized. The crown prince, Raja Muda Mohammed Israel and his sister Fatimah attended school in Manila and learned Spanish manners and customs. A year and a half passed and no action was taken by the authorities to restore Alimud Din. In the meantime Bantilan’s fleets were busy ravaging and pillaging the Bisayas. In July, 1750, a new governor, the marquis of Obando (Francisco JosÉ de Obando) arrived in Manila. After some deliberation he resolved to reinstate Alimud Din and punish Bantilan and his pirates.59 Accordingly, on May 19, 1751, the sultan and his retinue were sent on board the Spanish frigate San Fernando and were convoyed by a squadron composed of seven war vessels under the command of Field Marshal Ramon de Abad. Falling in with bad weather off the shore of Mindoro, the San Fernando was disabled and made for Kalapan. The squadron, however, continued its voyage uninterrupted to Jolo, arriving there on the 26th of June. After some desultory fighting, Abad arrived at an understanding with the Sulus and arranged for Datu Asin to come to Zamboanga with sufficient boats to escort the sultan back to Jolo. The sultan in the meantime stopped at Iloilo where he changed boats. Meeting with contrary winds he was carried off his course to Dapitan, and from there he set sail again for Zamboanga, which he reached on July 12. Before Ferdinand I left Manila, he had addressed a letter to the sultan of Mindanao, at the instance of the Spanish Governor-General. The original was written by Ferdinand I in Moro; a version in Spanish was dictated by him, and both were signed by him. These documents reached the governor of Zamboanga, but he had the original in Moro retranslated and found that it did not at all agree with the sultan’s Spanish rendering. The translation of the Moro text runs thus: “I shall be glad to know that the Sultan Mohammed Amirud Din and all his chiefs, male and female, are well. I do not write a lengthy letter, as I intended, because I simply wish to give you to understand, in case the sultan or his chiefs and others should feel aggrieved at my writing this letter in this manner, that I do so under pressure, being under foreign dominion, and I am compelled to obey whatever they tell me to do, and I have to say what they tell me to say. Thus the governor has ordered me to write to you in our style and language; therefore, do not understand that I am writing you on my own behalf, but because I am ordered to do so, and I have nothing more to add. Written in the year 1164 in the month Rabi?-ul Akir. Ferdinand I, King of Sulu, who seals with his own seal.” This letter was pronounced treasonable. Impressed with, or feigning this idea, Governor Zacharias saw real or imaginary indications of a design on the part of the sultan to throw off the foreign yoke at the first opportunity.60 After the landing of Datu Asin and his followers at Zamboanga, the governor found out by his spies that they had many arms and quantities of ammunition in their boats which lay in the roadstead opposite the town and fort. Suspicious and distrustful from the beginning, Zacharias interpreted these facts as positive proof of an intention on the part of the sultan and Datu Asin treacherously to attack the town when an opportunity offered itself. He then at once confiscated part of the arms, ordered the boats to leave the port, imprisoned the sultan and Datu Asin and all their retinue, and communicated his suspicions and the action taken to Manila. Among the prisoners were the sons and daughters of the sultan, several datus and dignitaries and panditas, and many male and female followers and servants. In all 217 persons entered the prisons of the fort, most of whom were later transferred to Manila and confined in Fort Santiago. Zacharias’s interpretation of the action of the sultan and Datu Asin was simply absurd and his behavior reflected considerable discredit on his ability as an officer and administrator. It was further most regrettable that his views were accepted as true by higher authority in Manila where no clemency or redress was extended to the unfortunate sultan and datus. By a degree of the Governor-General, the following accusations were set forth against the sultan and Datu Asin, viz: 1. That Prince Asin had not surrendered captives; 2. That whilst the sultan was in Manila, new captives were made by the party who expelled him from the throne; 3. That the number of arms brought to Zamboanga by Sulu chiefs was excessive; 4. That the letter to Sultan Mohammed Amirud Din insinuated help wanted against the Spaniards; 5. That several Mohammedan, but no Christian books, were found in the sultan’s baggage; 6. That during the journey to Zamboanga he had refused to pray in Christian form; 7. That he had only attended mass twice; 8. That he had celebrated Mohammedan rites, sacrificing a goat, and had given evidence in a hundred ways of being a Mohammedan; 9. That his conversation generally denoted a want of attachment to the Spaniards, and a contempt for their treatment of him in Manila,61 and, 10. That he still cohabited with his concubines. The greatest stress was laid on the recovery of the captive Christians, and the governor added, that although the mission of the fleet was to restore the sultan to the throne (which, by the way, he does not appear to have attempted), the principal object was the rescue of Christian slaves. He therefore proposed that the liberty of the imprisoned nobles and chiefs should be bartered at the rate of 500 Christian slaves for each one of the chiefs and nobles, and the balance of the captives for Prince Asin and the clergy.62 It is not therefore surprising to hear of the extraordinarily revengeful activity which the Sulus exhibited during the period of humiliation to which their sultan and nobles were subjected in Manila. Bantilan was a man of strong personality, a warrior, and a leader. The expeditions which he organized against his enemies were unusually strong and left havoc everywhere. The towns he pillaged and the captives he carried away alarmed the Spanish Government to a high degree. A high council of war was convened in Manila in 1752, which declared for an unmerciful campaign and a war of extermination to be conducted with the utmost conceivable cruelty. Volunteers and Bisayan corsairs were called to aid the regular troops. Unlimited authority was granted them to annihilate the foe, burn his villages, destroy his crops, and desolate his lands. The corsairs were exempted from all taxes. They were allowed to keep or sell all female captives and all males under 12 and over 30 years of age. Old men and crippled persons were to be killed. Male captives between 12 and 30 years of age were to be turned in to the government; the captors to receive in compensation from ?4 to ?6 per man. Nursing children were ordered to be baptized. At first the corsairs were required to turn in to the government one-fifth of all valuables looted, but this was soon afterwards revoked and all corsairs who equipped themselves retained all their booty. As part of the general campaign, Field Marshal Abad made another attack on Jolo with a force amounting to 1,900 men. The fleet cannonaded the forts for seventy-two continuous hours. A division of the troops landed and engaged the Sulus, but after suffering considerable loss retreated disastrously. The raids of the Spaniards and Bisayans helped to increase the vigilance of the Sulus and excited them to extreme cruelty and an abnormal degree of revenge.63 The year 1753 is stated to have been the bloodiest in the history of Moro piracy. No part of the Bisayas escaped ravaging in this year, while the Camarines, Batangas, and Albay suffered equally with the rest. The conduct of the pirates was more than ordinarily cruel. Priests were slain, towns wholly destroyed, and thousands of captives carried south into Moro slavery. The condition of the Islands at the end of this year was probably the most deplorable in their history.64 In the meantime Prince Asin died of grief in his prison. Early in 1753 Alimud Din petitioned the governor to allow Princess Fatimah to go to Jolo for the purpose of arranging a peace with Bantilan. This request was granted on condition that she deliver 50 slaves to the Spanish Government on her arrival at Jolo. This she complied with faithfully, adding one Spanish captive to the 50 Christian slaves wanted. Her mission was apparently successful and she returned to Manila with Datu Mohammed Ismael and Datu Maharaja-Layla, a commission sent by Bantilan. They brought a letter from Bantilan, which was transmitted to the governor by Alimud Din together with a draft of a treaty for the restoration of peace between Spain and Sulu. Bantilan expressed deep regret for Alimud Din and the existing condition of hostility and gave strong assurance of his desire for the return of the sultan and the reËstablishment of peace with Spain. The governor acceded to the petition of the sultan and sent a letter to Bantilan with the commission, requesting that all hostilities stop for the period of one year pending the consideration and completion of the new treaty. In 1754 Governor Arandia assumed command and approved of the proposed treaty. To expedite matters he sent the commanding officer of the southern forces to find out what had been done by Bantilan toward the fulfilment of the conditions agreed upon. Bantilan met the commanding officer in a most friendly manner and discussed the questions frankly and ably. He explained in clear and impressive manner the principal causes of hostility and strongly blamed the governor of Zamboanga for his unjust imprisonment of the sultan and Datu Asin and his unbearable treatment of the messengers and representatives of the Sulu authorities. He declared his wish and true desire for peace and delivered to the commanding officer 68 Christian captives and two Spanish sloops. The officer was strongly impressed with the integrity of Bantilan and with the honesty of his intentions, and gave to the governor a very favorable report of both Alimud Din and Bantilan. He assured him that the sultan was not a traitor at all, but a man of good intentions, who was simply unable to carry out some of his plans and promises because of the determined resistance of many of the principal datus. A general council was held in Manila early in 1755, in which it was resolved to set the sultan free and return him to Jolo if the Sulu authorities carried out the terms of the following conditions: 1. That all captives within the sultanate of Sulu be delivered within one year. 2. That all valuable property and ornaments looted from the churches be returned within one year. General Zacharias who had attended the council set out from Manila in September to take charge of the government of Mindanao. He brought back to Jolo 6 princes, 5 princesses, 20 women, and 130 men of the sultan’s retinue. He had letters from Alimud Din and the Governor-General to Bantilan and was authorized to conduct the preliminaries of a peace treaty. Other ambassadors who accompanied Zacharias were empowered to ratify the same. The ships arrived at Jolo on October 4, and the ambassadors were well received by Bantilan. The latter agreed to all the conditions imposed in as far as it was in his power to carry them out. But he stated that many captives were bought from Mindanao chiefs and were owned by datus on Basilan and other inaccessible places, who were unwilling to give them up unless they were justly compensated. He added that many such datus were in alliance with datus in Mindanao and were planning to attack Zamboanga, and that the time was very inopportune for him to force them to deliver all captives. The terms were actually impossible of execution and the endeavor to make the treaty and ratify it proved fruitless. Alimud Din remained in prison until 1763, when the English, after their conquest and occupation of Manila, reinstated him on the throne of Sulu. During the period of his imprisonment he felt greatly humiliated, but lived as a Christian and with one wife only. At the death of his wife, in 1755, he was allowed to marry a Sulu woman who had been his concubine, but who had professed Christianity and was living at the College of Santa Potenciana. The Sulus received their former sultan with a good heart and Alimud Din resumed his former authority as Sultan of Sulu. The people had evidently acquired strong sympathy for him and Bantilan had either undergone a change of heart or felt convinced that it was of no avail to go against such strong popular sentiment and fight the English forces. Withdrawing from Jolo he moved to Kuta Gubang near Parang, where, a few years later, he died. In return for the favors which he received from the English, Alimud Din ceded to them that part of North Borneo lying between Cape Inarstang and the River Frimanis with the adjacent Island of Balambangan and the Island of Tulayan. Balambangan was soon after that occupied and garrisoned by English forces. In the later days of his reign, Alimud Din was addressed as Amirul Mu’minin (The Prince of the Faithful) by which name he is better known to the Sulus. Moro incursions increased at that time and the Sulus became so daring as to invade the Bay of Manila in 1769, carry away captives from the wharves of the city, and appear at the Plaza del Palacio at retreat before they were repulsed or even detected. Becoming old and weak, Amirul Mu’minin abdicated the sultanate in favor of his son Israel, in November, 1773. Reign of Sultan Israel Sultan Israel followed the same progressive policy which characterized his father’s administration. However, his succession was contested by rivals, and the people were not unanimous in his support. In his foreign relations with the English and Spaniards he was at the beginning uncertain as to the side toward which to lean. Both powers had an eye on Sulu and appeared interested in its affairs. However, before long he refused the request of the English to be allowed to move their factory from Balambangan to Tandu-dayang, in the neighborhood of Jolo, and exchanged messages of friendship with King Carlos III, who congratulated Israel on his succession to the sultanate and thanked him for his action relative to the removal of the Balambangan factory to Sulu Island.65 The early education Israel received in Manila, together with the consideration with which the Spanish authorities treated him at that time, helped to win his sympathies to the Spanish side and to form a sort of an alliance between Sulu and Spain against Great Britain. Such an alliance was further needed to strengthen his hand in Sulu, for the purpose of checking any insurrection that might be fomented by rival datus or unfriendly chiefs. The Spaniards promised to help him in his endeavors to organize an army and a navy; and, he on his part, agreed to open the ports of Sulu for free commerce with the Philippine Islands. He further asked the Spanish Government for capital to work his mines, promising to pay back one-fifth of the output. In 1774 and 1776, Jolo was visited by Captain Thomas Forrest, who in his “Voyage to New Guinea” described the town and country as he saw them. His account is so interesting and so clear that the following extracts66 are quoted therefrom: They have a great variety of fine tropical fruits; the oranges are fully as good as those of China. They have also a variety of the fruit called jack, or nangka, durians, a kind of large custard apple named madang, mangos, mangustines ***. The Sulus having great connection with China, and many Chineses being settled amongst them, they have learned the art of ingrafting and improving their fruits ***. The capital town is called Bawang,67 situated by the seacoast, on the northwest part of the island, and containing about 6,000 inhabitants. Many of them were Ilanun ***. This island *** is well cultivated, affording a fine prospect from the sea, on every side far superior to that of Malay countries in general ***. Here are wild elephants, the offspring, doubtless, of those sent in former days, from the continent of India68 as presents to the kings of Sulu. Those animals avoid meeting with horned cattle, though they are not shy of horses. After harvest the Sulus hunt the elephants and wild hog, endeavoring to destroy them ***. Sulu has spotted deer, abundance of goats, and black cattle. The pearl fishery *** proves also to the Sulus the cause of their consequence amongst their neighbors, as being a nursery for seamen, ready to man a fleet of praus upon an emergency ***. The praus [boats] of the Sulus are very neatly built, from 6 to 40 tons burden, sail well, and are all fitted with the tripod mast.69 *** The arts are in greater forwardness here than at Mindanao. *** In the common market is also a copper currency, a convenience much wanted at Mindanao, where, as has been said, the market currency is rice. The Sulus have in their families many Bisayan, some Spanish slaves, whom they purchase from the Ilanun and Magindanao cruisers. Sometimes they purchase whole cargoes, which they carry to Passir, on Borneo, where, if the females are handsome, they are bought up for the Batavia market. The masters sometimes use their slaves cruelly, assuming the power of life and death over them. Many are put to death for trifling offenses, and their bodies left above the ground. An attempt of elopement is here seldom pardoned, or indeed at Magindanao. Yet, the distance being so small from either Sulu or Slangan,70 to the Spanish settlement, I have wondered how any stay, as they are not closely confined. The Bisayan slaves play often on the violin, and the Sulus are fond of European music.71 I have seen the Sultan Israel, who was educated in Manila, and his niece, *** dance a tolerable minuet. I have also seen the datus go down a country dance, but as they wore heavy slippers, they did it clumsily. The Sulus are not only neat in their clothes, but dress gaily. The men go generally in white waistcoats, buttoned down to the wrist; with white breeches, sometimes strait, sometimes wide. *** Both sexes are fond of gaming. *** In the cool of the evening, I had the pleasure of seeing the Sultan’s niece and another princess. They wore waistcoats of fine muslin close fitted to their bodies; their necks to the upper part of the breasts being bare. From the waist downward they wore a loose robe, girt with an embroidered zone or belt about the middle, with a large clasp of gold, and a precious stone. This loose robe like a petticoat came over their drawers, and reached to the middle of the leg; the drawers of fine muslin reaching to the ankle. They rode across with very short stirrups, and wore their hair clubbed atop, Chinese fashion. They often put sweet oils on their hair which give it a gloss. The ladies sat their horses remarkably well; and this is an exercise women of fashion indulge all over the island. “The Island Sulu is far from being large; but its situation between Mindanao and Borneo makes it the mart of all the Moorish kingdoms. I do not find that the Portuguese ever pretended to settle, much less to conquer these islands; but they visited them frequently for the sake of trade; and in those days, there was greater commerce in these parts than can well be imagined. For, while the trade was open to Japan, there came from thence two or three ships laden with silver, amber, silks, chests, cabinets, and other curiosities made of sweet-scented woods, with vast quantities of silks, quilts, and earthenware, from China. For these the merchants of Golconda exchanged their diamonds, those of Ceylon their rubies, topazes, and sapphires; from Java and Sumatra came pepper, and spices from the Moluccas.” (Harris’ History of the Portuguese Empire, p. 685.) About fifteen datus *** make the greater part of the legislature. *** They sit in council with the Sultan. The sultan has two votes in this assembly, and each datu has one. The heir apparent, *** if he side with the sultan, has two votes; but, if against him, only one. There are two representatives of the people, called mantiris, like the military tribunes of the Romans. The common people of Sulu *** enjoy much real freedom, owing to the above representation. The state of Sulu is small, *** containing scarce above 60,000 inhabitants; yet are these powerful, and have under them, not only most of the islands that compose that Archipelago, but a great part of Borneo, some of which they have granted to the English. They have the character of being treacherous, and of endeavoring always to supply by fraud what they can not effect by force. *** Only seven years have elapsed since the Sultan of Kulan *** on the northeast of Borneo, was at war with the Sultan of Buru, on the same coast. One of them applied to the Sulus for assistance. The datus Alimud Din and Nukila went; and watching their opportunity, attacked both the sultans, plundered them, and carried them with their wives, children, and many of their headmen to Sulu. They were sometime after sent back, on condition that they should become tributary, which they are at this day. The intentions of the East India Company in fortifying Balambangan were regarded with suspicion by the Spaniards, who employed every method possible to incite hostilities between the Sulus and the English. The English agents at Jolo won the sympathy of a party headed by the strong datus in chief command of the Sulu forces. The Spaniards had the sultan and his party on their side. This question of national policy was a matter of serious and important concern to the people. It stirred up the whole Sulu community, and party issues were ardently and publicly discussed. The jealousy which the English and Spaniards exhibited toward each other and the methods they used to secure alliance with Sulu, had the effect of exciting the suspicion of the Sulus toward both nations. Besides that, the Spanish officials at Zamboanga showed exceedingly poor judgment, and their action aroused the indignation of all parties in Sulu, and led to the renewal of hostilities. In 1773 a majority of the leading datus favored an alliance with England against Spain. In 1775 the English party weakened and the garrison of Balambangan was treacherously attacked and destroyed by Sulu agents and forces secretly sent there by Sultan Israel and his council. The conduct of the Sulus in this incident depicts very clearly a marked trait of the Sulu character. A full description of this incident is given herewith in the words of Captain Forrest, who had an intimate knowledge of the conditions at Balambangan and the causes leading to the massacre. When John Herbert, esq. went to Balambangan early in the preceding year [1774], he found great want of buildings to accommodate the company’s servants, civil and military; those gentlemen who had just been saved from the shipwreck of the Royal Captain on the shoals of Palawan, as well as the crew of that ship. About this time, one Tating, a Sulu datu, and first cousin to Sultan Israel, came with many of his vassals to Balambangan, offered his service as a builder, was employed by Mr. Herbert, and, in the whole of his behavior, gave satisfaction. The datu, falling sick, went home to Sulu for the recovery of his health. This blessing soon obtained, he returned to the prosecution of his task at Balambangan. He now brought from the sultan and council letters recommending him as a trustworthy person, to erect whatever warehouses or buildings might be wanted. With him came two other datus, Muluk and Nukila. But Datu Tating took care to show only part of his numerous followers, concealing the rest in the Island of Banguey, and even in some recesses of Balambangan, which, being covered with wood, as those islands generally are, there was no great fear of discovery. Surmises, however, had some days begun to spread reports of a plot, while Tating proceeded with such address, that the chief and council, who were not without their suspicions, apprehended no danger very nigh. During the night strict watch was kept all over the settlement. At dawn, the gun, as usual, announced the morning, and for a few moments tranquillity reigned. A house at some small distance suddenly fired proved the signal to the Sulus. They rushed into the fort, killed the sentries, and turned the guns against the Bugis guard. The few settlers, lately rendered fewer by death, were fain to make their escape in what vessels they could find.72 The governor and five others escaped on board a vessel, leaving behind a great quantity of arms and wealth. The English factors who were at Jolo fled in a Chinese junk. In the same year Tating attempted a similar attack on Zamboanga, but failed. During 1776 and 1777 he and other Sulus harassed the Bisayas and ravaged the coast of Cebu. Moro pirates Sultan Israel was poisoned in 1778 by his cousin Alimud Din II, the son of Bantilan. During the reign of Sultan Alimud Din II, hostilities between Sulus and Spaniards increased, and for the period of ten years or more traffic between Luzon and the southern islands was paralyzed. About 500 Spanish and native Christians were every year carried into captivity by the Moros. The government was greatly exercised over this grave situation, and in 1789 the Captain-General Mariquina reported to the King that “war with the Moros was an evil without remedy.” In the latter part of 1789 Sharapud Din, the son of Alimud Din I, ascended the throne of Sulu. While a youth he was imprisoned with his father in Zamboanga and accompanied the latter to Manila. Very little is known of his reign except that he was animated by the same spirit and principles which characterized his father’s reign and that of his brother Israel. He coined money, and one of his coins which was obtained from Jolo bears the date 1204 A. H., which was probably the date of his succession. Sultan Sharapud Din was followed by his sons Alimud Din III and Aliyud Din I. The continued presence of the Moros in Mindoro, where they haunted the bays and rivers of both east and west coasts for months at a time, stealing out from this island for attack in every direction, was specially noted by Padre ZuÑiga, and indicated how feebly the Spaniards repulsed these pirates a hundred years ago. It was the last severe phase of Malay piracy, when even the strong merchant ships of England and America dreaded the Straits of Borneo and passed with caution through the China Sea. Northern Borneo, the Sulu Archipelago, and the southern coasts of Mindanao were the centers from which came these fierce sea wolves, whose cruel exploits have left their many traditions in the American and British merchant navies, just as they periodically appear in the chronicles of the Philippines. Five hundred captives annually seem to have been the spoils taken by these Moros in the Philippine Islands, and as far south as Batavia and Macassar captive Filipinos were sold in the slave marts of the Malays. The aged and infirm were inhumanly bartered to the savage tribes of Borneo, who offered them up in their ceremonial sacrifices. The measures of the Spanish Government, though constant and expensive, were ineffective. Between 1778 and 1793 a million and a half of pesos were expended on the fleets and expeditions to drive back or punish the Moros, but at the end of the century a veritable climax of piracy was attained. Pirates swarmed continually about the coasts of Mindoro, Burias, and Masbate, and even frequented the esteros73 of Manila Bay. Some sort of peace seems to have been established with Jolo and a friendly commerce was engaged in toward the end of the century, but the Moros of Mindanao and Borneo were increasing enemies. In 1798 a fleet of 25 Moro bancas passed up the Pacific coast of Luzon and fell upon the isolated towns of Baler, Kasiguran, and Palanan, destroying the pueblos and taking 450 captives. The cura of Kasiguran was ransomed in Binangonan for the sum of 2,500 pesos. For four years this pirate fleet had its rendezvous on Burias, whence it raided the adjacent coasts and Katanduan Island.74 Governor Aguilar assumed command in 1793 and made every effort to remedy this condition of affairs. He divided the Archipelago into six divisions, each of which was provided with a fleet of six gunboats. He repaired the forts of the Bisayas, Mindoro, Tayabas, Batangas, and Zamboanga. While preparing for defence, he negotiated with the Sulu and Mindanao Moros for peace and partially succeeded in establishing a condition of truce with Sulu. In 1798 he convened a council to consider further measures for the suppression of piracy. All records pertaining to Moro affairs were submitted to Rufino Suarez, “Asesor del Gobierno,” who was directed to report on this subject. The report was rendered in April, 1800, and contained full information and recommendations as to the best measures and methods that the government could undertake for that purpose. Aguilar, however, did not act on the recommendations of Suarez, but continued his negotiations with the Moros who became peaceful and remained so until 1803. In this year the English attacked Zamboanga unsuccessfully, instigated hostility between Sulu and Spain, and reoccupied the Island of Balambangan, which they held for three years only. In 1805 a treaty was made between Sulu and Spain whereby it was agreed that no foreign resident would be permitted in Sulu without the consent of the Spanish Government, and that in case of war between Spain and any foreign country, the Sultan’s ports would be closed against Spain’s enemies. Between 1805 and 1815 detailed accounts of piratical raids are infrequent. Sultan Aliyud Din died in 1808 and was succeeded by his pious brother Shakirul Lah. It is related that Shakirul Lah slept on boards and covered himself with sarongs only. He used to leave his home at night, search for the poor and needy and feed them. In 1815, the raiders took 1,000 native prisoners and captured several Spanish, British, and Dutch vessels. In October, 1818, a Spanish fleet under Pedro Esteban encountered 25 Moro vessels in the vicinity of Albay, seized nine of them and sank the rest. Sultan Shakirul Lah was succeeded in 1823 by Sultan Jamalul Kiram I, the son of Alimud Din III. In the same year, Governor Antonio Martinez, impressed by the superior policy and success of Corcuera, organized an expedition under Alonso Morgado and attacked the pirates in their home lairs, at Basilan, Pilas, Sulu, and Mindanao. The Spanish fleet consisted of 2 schooners, 4 gunboats, 6 tenders, 2 junks, and 1 transport schooner. The expedition reached Pilas in March, 1825, took the fort by assault and killed 50 Moros. At Jolo it cannonaded the town for ten hours and then left for Mindanao, where it inflicted considerable damage. It destroyed Moro boats at Illana Bay, Pollok, and Dumankilis Bay. General Ricafort sent another expedition, in 1827, to Jolo, consisting of 20 vessels and 500 troops; but Jolo was so well fortified and the Moro forces so numerous that the Spanish soldiers could not disembark, and the expedition returned without accomplishing any results. The seal of Sultan Jamalul Kiram I bears the date 1239 A. H., or about 1823 A. D., which in all probability indicates the year of his succession. He issued regular appointment forms for his subordinate officers of state and dated his communications, using the current Malay and Mohammedan dates combined. In the estimation of the Sulus he was a strong and very prosperous sultan. On the 23d of September, 1836 A. D. or 1252 A. H., he signed a commercial treaty with Capt. JosÉ M. Halcon as the representative of Captain-General Salazar.75 The principal part of the treaty was an agreement regulating boat licenses and the duties to be paid by Sulu boats in Manila and Zamboanga and by Spanish vessels in Jolo. In another document bearing the same date and signed by the same parties, an alliance was declared guaranteeing general peace and safety to Sulu boats in Philippine waters and to Spanish and Filipino craft in the Sulu Sea. The sultan further consented to have a Spanish trading house constructed at Jolo for the safe storage of merchandise under the charge of a Spanish resident agent. Articles of agreement arranging the duties to be paid by Sulu craft in Manila and Zamboanga, and by Spanish craft in Jolo, which schedule can not be changed except by a new agreement. Article 1. Sulu craft which, with proper license, go to Manila, may import products of the Islands subject to the Sultan, by paying a consumption duty of 2½%. Article 2. Wax and cacao may be deposited in the Manila Custom-House by paying 1%; but if these articles are imported the established 14% will be paid. Article 3. Sulu craft that trade in Zamboanga will pay a duty of 1% on products of the islands subject to the Sultan. Article 4. All these duties will be paid in silver to the Protecting Spanish Government on the basis of one-half the appraised value. Article 5. Spanish craft in Jolo will pay the following duties in kind: | Pesos | | Ships of three masts from Manila, with Chinese passengers | 2,000 | | The same, without passengers | 1,800 | | Brigantine from Manila, with Chinese passengers | 1,500 | | The same, without passengers | 1,300 | | Schooner from Manila, with Chinese passengers | 1,400 | | The same, without passengers | 1,200 | | Pontin (small trading boat) from Manila, with Chinese passengers | 1,400 | | The same, without passengers | 1,200 | | Galley from Manila or other ports of the Philippines, with cargo of rice (palay), sugar and saguranes76 | 300 | | The same for the Philippine Islands with cargo of merchandise | 500 | Article 6. These duties fixed for Spanish craft will be paid in kind in accordance with the values laid down in the following schedule, one-half of which will be selected by the Sultan’s government officials from the cargo and the other half shall consist of such articles as the captain of the boat may select, valuation to be in accordance with the schedule. Articles not in the schedule can not be exacted from the captain, nor will he give such payment: | Articles | Quantity | Value | | | (pesos) | | Rice | One laga | 2.00 | | Sugar | One pilon | 5.00 | | Coconut oil | One tinaja | 6.50 | | Chapas (plates) | Per thousand | 1.00 | | Cambayas ordinarias (cloth) | Per thousand | 9.00 | | Carancali (cloth) | Per piece | 11.00 | | Coco, black and blue, (cloth) | 11 yards | 4.50 | | Coquillo blanco, (cloth), 6 brazas (12 yards) | 1 piece | 6.50 | | Coco blanco, (cloth), 22 brazas (44 yards) | 1 piece | 16.50 | | Javal de caranclan (cloth) | 1 piece | 26.00 | | Cacha (cloth) | 1 piece | 4.00 | | Manta coleta (shirting) | 1 piece | 1.00 | | Plain muslin, 12 varas | 1 piece | 10.00 | | Fancy muslin | 1 piece | 5.00 | | Colored muslin, 12 varas | 1 piece | 15.00 | | Unhusked rice | One laga | 1.00 | | PaÑos de Costa (cloth) | 1 piece | 11.00 | | Ordinary cambric kerchiefs | 1 kerchief | .50 | | Ordinary stamped kerchiefs | Per dozen | 3.00 | | Woolens | 1 piece | 6.00 | | Common woolens | 1 piece | 5.00 | | Printed cotton with flowers | 1 piece | 9.00 | Article 7. Sulu ships found trading in ports without a license or passing contraband will be treated as smugglers in accordance with the Spanish laws laid down for such. Spanish schooners and small trading craft (galeras) that show by manifest in Jolo that they carry a cargo of Philippine produce, and are afterward discovered to have, in place thereof, a cargo of merchandise (gÉneros), and to have discharged such cargo in the port to be sold therein, will be fined 500 pesos as per values in Jolo, two-thirds of said sum to go to the Sultan, and one-third to the Royal Treasury of the Protecting Spanish Government. Article 8. Should the import duties on any articles of commerce produced in the Sulu Islands be reduced in Manila or Zamboanga to a lower rate than that now established, the Spanish Government will also make a reduction so that Sulu ships may always pay less, as has been agreed. Should the Sultan of Sulu collect smaller duties from any foreign ship than those established for Spaniards, either as a tax or by a reduction of the valuation of the dutiable articles, he will be obliged to make such a reduction in duties for Spanish craft as will give the advantage to the flag of His Catholic Majesty as stipulated. Last Article. Should the text of these articles of agreement differ in the two languages, the Spanish text will be literally adhered to. Palace of Jolo, September 23, 1836, which is the 14th of the moon Jamadul Akir, 1252.—JosÉ M. Harun,—Rubric,—Sultan Mohammed Jamalul Kiram,—Datu Mohammed Harun,—Datu Mohammed Buyuk,—Datu Bandahala,—Datu Muluk,—Datu Sabalmar,—Datu Mamancha,—Datu Juhan,—Datu Maharaja-Layla,—Datu Sabuwayan,—Datu Muluk Kahar,—Datu Nay. I, Don JosÉ MarÍa Halcon y Mendoza, Frigate Captain of the Royal Navy, etc., Special Commissioner appointed by the Captain General of the Philippines to establish these articles of agreement (capitulaciones), Certify that when I received from the hands of the Sultan of Sulu the copy herewith, in the act of the exchange, by which I handed him the duplicate with the ratification of the Governor General, I remarked at the end of the present a writing in Malay, on the page following that of the seals and signatures which is the reverse of folio six, on which it can be seen. I also certify that having examined the contents of said improper addition which, although unauthorized, appears in writing in the present document, it was found to be the text of the circular of the Sultan to his people, in four articles, whose translation, made by the Datu Muluk-Bandarasa, and verified separately by several persons, reads as follows: Article 1. The people of Sulu who wish to go to Zamboanga or Mindanao shall ask the Sultan of Sulu for a passport so that they may suffer no harm if they meet ships belonging to the Navy. Article 2. Passports shall be issued stating the number of people on board and the cargo when requested. Article 3. I give this order for the safety of those who travel by sea, as instead of being pursued by the ships of the Navy, they shall be helped. Article 4. I give you the present patent so that when you meet the ships of the Navy of the King of Spain, my brother, they may not harm, but help you. And in proof thereof, I make out the present certificate, written of my hand and attached to the Articles of Agreement, of which it is impossible to make a new copy, on account of the absence of some of the Datus who were present when they were agreed to, and approved them. Given on board her Majesty’s schooner “Tirol” in the roadstead of Jolo on the 29th of March 1837. JosÉ Ma. Halcon,
(His flourish). Ratification of the treaty of 1836 by the Queen Regent of Spain Isabel II, Queen of Spain, by the Grace of God and the Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy, and in her Royal name and during her minority, the Queen Dowager her mother, DoÑa MarÍa Cristina of Bourbon, Regent of the Kingdom: Whereas on the twenty-third of September of last year, at the palace of Jolo, a treaty of peace, protection and commerce having been drawn up, concluded and signed by the frigate-captain of the national fleet, Don JosÉ MarÍa Halcon, commander in chief of the naval forces anchored in the roadstead of Jolo, representing the Captain General of the Philippine Islands, and the Sultan Jamalul Kiram and Datus; which said treaty, composed of six articles, word by word, is as follows: Capitulations of Peace, Protection and Commerce, executed to the most Excellent Sultan and Datus of Sulu, by his high Excellency the Captain-General, Governor of the Philippine Islands, in the name of the high and powerful Sovereignty of her Catholic Majesty, being drawn up and agreed to by both parties, to wit: representing the Spanish Government as plenipotentiary of his high Excellency the Captain General, Don Pedro Antonio Salazar, Governor of the Philippines, the frigate-captain of the royal fleet, Don JosÉ MarÍa Halcon, commander in chief of the naval forces anchored in the roadstead of Jolo; and upon the other part, the Sultan Jamalul Kiram, Raja of Sulu and Datus who subscribe, which parties enacted as follows: Article 1 His high Excellency the Captain-General, Governor, for her Catholic Majesty, of the Philippine Islands, assures the most excellent Sultan and Datus of Sulu, for the present and forever, of the most stable peace between the Spaniards and natives of all the islands subject to the Crown of Spain and the tributaries of the lands governed by the Sultan and Datus. He offers the protection of his Government and the aid of fleets and soldiers for the wars which the Sultan shall find necessary to wage against enemies who shall attack him, or in order to accomplish the subjection of the peoples who rebel in all the confines of the islands which are found within Spanish jurisdiction, and which extend from the western point of Mindanao as far as Borneo and Palawan, except Sandakan and the other lands tributary to the Sultan on the coast of Borneo. The Sultan of Sulu, upon his part, accepting the friendship of the Spanish Government, binds himself to keep peace with all the vassals of her Catholic Majesty, and further binds himself to consider as his enemies those who hereafter may be such to the Spanish nation, the Sulus proceeding with armed men to the wars which may arise, in the same manner as if they were Spaniards; in case of his furnishing such aid, the provisions for the support of the Sulus shall be supplied by the Royal exchequer of her Catholic Majesty, as they are for the other soldiers and people of her army and navy. The sense of the second clause of the Capitulations of one thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven, that they are not bound to furnish assistance for wars against European nations, is hereby renewed and affirmed. Article 2 In accordance with the friendship and protection which unite Sulu with the Spanish provinces of the Philippines, the Sulu boats shall navigate and trade freely with the open ports of Manila and Zamboanga, and the Spanish vessels with Jolo, where not only will both be well received, but shall find protection and the same treatment as the natives. In a separate Capitulation are determined the duties which the Spanish vessels shall pay in Jolo, and those which the Sulus shall pay in Manila and Zamboanga; but by these Capitulations it is agreed that whenever the Sulus convey cargoes of products of the islands, they shall pay in Manila and Zamboanga less than foreign vessels, and the Spanish vessels shall not pay in Jolo as much as is charged the ships of other nations. Article 3 In order that the traffic of Spanish vessels in Jolo shall not suffer the injuries and delays occasioned by the difficulties of their market, the Sultan and Datus consent to the construction of a factory or trading house, with safe warehouses, where merchandise may be stored without risk: and the Sultan and Datus agree always to respect this place, in which there will be a resident Spanish agent, who shall assume charge of all the business entrusted to him. If the Sulus should desire to do likewise in Manila, they shall be permitted; but the Spanish Government receives for storage merchandise from the Custom-house of that city upon payment of fees of but one per centum. The Sultan shall designate the proper place for the location of the warehouses, which shall be convenient for loading and unloading and the Government shall request the Sultan to furnish, and shall pay for, the materials and workmen that may be necessary. Article 4 In order that the Spanish and Sulu vessels may navigate and trade with safety, free from the piracies of the Hanuns and Samals the Spanish Government will strengthen its fleets in Mindanao waters, which same will protect equally those of both nations; and in order that good may not be confused with evil persons, the following rules shall be observed: 1st. All Spanish vessels arriving at Jolo shall show to the Sultan their permit upon anchoring, and the same shall be sealed upon sailing; without which the captain shall be punished at Manila. 2d. All Sulu vessels which proceed to Manila or Zamboanga, shall carry the permit of the Sultan, and in possession of the same shall be free and unmolested. 3d. All Spanish or Sulu vessels which shall proceed for trading to Mindanao, shall go first to Zamboanga to notify the Governor, who shall sign their permit without cost. 4th. Every Spanish or Sulu vessel which shall be found by the fleets of Illana or Sindangan bays, without permit of the Governor and Sultan as aforesaid, shall be seized and shall lose all her merchandise, of which two-thirds shall be awarded to those making the capture and one-third to the Sultan of Sulu, if the vessel is Sulu, and to the Spanish Government if the vessel is Spanish. 5th. The Governor of Zamboanga shall determine the procedure in the case of vintas [small sail boats] of the towns of Pilas and Basilan Islands friendly to said Plaza [Zamboanga]. 6th. Sulu merchant vessels proceeding outside the islands of the Sultan or to Mindanao with a permit, should not flee from the fleets which they encounter, because the latter are intended to defend them and run down evil-doers. Commanders of the fleets shall be ordered to receive and aid the advice-boats of the Sultan. Article 5 The Sultan and Datus of Sulu pledge themselves to prevent the piracies of the Ilanuns and Samals in the Philippines, and if they are unable, the Sultan shall so report in order that the Spanish Government may afford assistance or undertake the task alone. Last Article If the sense of these Capitulations is not conformable in both languages, the same shall agree with the literal Spanish text. Palace of Jolo, September 23, 1836, which is the fourteenth of the moon Jamadul Akir of one thousand two hundred and fifty-two. The seals.—Sultan Mohammed Jamalul Kiram.—Seal—signed.—JosÉ MarÍa Halcon.—Datu Mohammed Harun.—Seal.—Datu Mohammed Buyuk.—Seal—Datu Bandahala.—Seal—Datu Amilbahar.—Datu Muluk.—Datu Sabalmar.—Datu Mamancha.—Datu Juhan.—Datu Maharajah-Layla.—Datu Sabuwayan.—Datu Muluk Kahar.—Datu Nay. Therefore, the Government of our August Daughter, having been duly authorized by the decree of the Cortes of the thirteenth of the present month, for the ratification of the inclosed treaty, and the same having been seen and examined by Us, we have approved and ratified and by these presents do hereby approve and ratify the contents thereof as a whole, in the best and most complete form possible, promising on the faith and the word of Queen Regent, in the name of our August Daughter, to comply with and observe the same, and compel wholly the compliance with and observance of the same. In witness whereof, we command the disposition of the same, signed with our hand, and sealed with our own private seal by the First Secretary of State. Done at Madrid, this October twenty-ninth, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven. I the Queen Regent. [A shield in wax.] Eusebio de Bandaxi y Azara. In 1842 the Spanish Government built the stone fort at Isabela de Basilan. The Balangingi and Basilan Moros appear about this time to have become a menace to the peace and to the commerce of nations. To punish Datu Usak of Malusu for depredations committed against French vessels, Basilan was blockaded by a French fleet in 1843. Aspiring for Chinese trade and for the possession of a port in the neighboring seas the French in 1844 concluded a treaty with the Sultan of Sulu for the cession of the Island of Basilan for a considerable sum of money. The terms of this treaty do not appear to have been carried out, but this act and the frequent appearance of English, Dutch, and French vessels in Sulu waters aroused the Spaniards to active measures for the subjugation of the Sulu Archipelago. This year Jamalul Kiram I died, and his son Mohammed Pulalun succeeded to the sultanate. The “Luntar” or “Sulu Annals” begin January, 1844, and appear to have been started by Sultan Pulalun. In 1845 a frigate attacked the Island of Balangingi, but it was repulsed and gained no advantage except that of ascertaining the strength of the enemy. The shores of Basilan and the principal islands lying between it and the Island of Sulu had numerous forts, the strongest of which were on the island of Balangingi, the chief stronghold and headquarters of the Samal pirates. Realizing the seriousness of the situation Governor Claveria took the matter in hand and with energy and enthusiasm made every effort to strengthen the fleet and increase its efficiency. In 1848 he secured three steam war vessels called Elcano, Magallanes, and Reina de Castilla which were built by the English and were the first steam gunboats the Philippine Government ever employed. Steam was certainly destined to mark a new epoch, one which saw the beginning of the end of Moro piracy. With two additional pilot boats and three transport brigs the expedition, headed by Governor Claveria in person, left Manila in January and, coming by the way of Dapitan, reunited at Caldera Bay, where it received additional troops from Zamboanga. The Island of Balangingi is scarcely 6 square miles in area, low, flat, surrounded by shoals, and covered to a great extent by mangrove swamps. Most of its settlements had their houses built over the water and little dry land could be seen in the vicinity. Part of this land was covered with coconut trees. A labyrinth of small, narrow channels led to the various settlements and divided the island into four distinct parts. Four strong forts were built by the Moros at points difficult of access and surrounded by swamps. These forts were constructed of thick trunks of trees driven into the soil as piles and set close to each other and in 3 rows of varying heights, to afford suitable positions for the artillery, part of which was set in covered inclosures commanding the channel leading to the fort. The walls of these forts were 20 feet high and could not be scaled without ladders. The immediate vicinity of the fort was set with sharpened bamboo sticks and pits to hinder and trap the attacking forces. The fort of Sipak, the strongest of the four, was provided with redoubts and towers and showed considerable skill in its construction. The Spanish troops consisted of three regular companies of infantry, two of volunteers, and detachments of artillery, pikemen, engineers, and laborers. They experienced some difficulty in landing and attacked the most accessible fort first. The fighting was heroic and desperate on both sides. The Moros, it is said, fought like fiends; but they were completely overpowered in the end. In the fort of Sipak many women and children were gathered and considerable property was stored. The Moros had hoped to save all within its impregnable walls. When these walls were entered, some of the defenders in their desperation thrust their spears and krises into their wives and children, killed them first, and then dashed themselves against sure death at the point of Spanish bayonets. The Moros consider such action most valorous and honorable and do it in order not to allow their wives and children to fall into slavery or be killed by the hand of the enemy. In the fight at the first fort 100 Moros perished and 14 pieces of artillery were captured. The Spaniards lost 7 dead and 50 wounded. After the reduction of the second fort at Sipak 340 Moros were burned in one pile and 150, mostly women and children, were taken as prisoners; others, who sought refuge in the swamps or tried to swim away, were killed by the fire of the fleet and their bodies were washed ashore by the waves. The Spanish losses in this engagement amounted to 17 dead, 4 officers and 13 men, and 155 wounded. Three hundred slave captives were rescued and 66 pieces of artillery were captured. Quantities of ammunition, silks, silver and gold vessels, bracelets and other ornaments, jewels, utensils and arms of all sorts, and books of prayer were found inside the fort. The troops investing the third fortification at Sungap found the fort evacuated, but the first Spaniard who scaled the wall fell dead from a kampilan blow at the hand of the only Moro who refused to run away and remained at his post to meet what he considered an honorable death. Thirteen cannons of small caliber were found in this fort. The Moros who had fled to the fourth fort at Bukutingal did not make any determined stand, but soon fled leaving several cannons behind. The Spaniards desolated the island, burned its forts and settlements, and cut down more than 8,000 coconut trees. The conquest of the Balangingi Samals was complete and the expedition returned to Manila in triumph. Here great rejoicings, parades, and festivities were held in honor of the event. Governor Claveria was decorated and promoted by the Queen and many of the officers and men were variously rewarded. The Balangingi Samals rivaled the Sulus in power, bravery, and wealth, but the signal victory of Claveria crushed them so completely that they have never since had any considerable force. The Samals who were carried away were transplanted to the Province of Kagayan in northern Luzon, where they remained until a late date. In December, 1848, Jolo was visited by Capt. Henry Keppel, in command of the Maeander, and his description of the town contained in the following extracts taken from his “Visit to the Indian Archipelago” will be of unusual interest:77 The town is built partly on land and partly on the sea. That part which is on the land, and which might almost be called the citadel, was at the time of our visit, strongly stockaded and flanked with batteries mounting heavy guns ***. That portion of the town which is not within the stockades is built in regular Malay fashion, on piles. The houses run in rows, or streets; and outside of them is a platform about 6 feet wide to walk upon. This is supported underneath by a light scaffolding of bamboo. These rows of birdcage-looking buildings extend into the sea for half a mile over a shoal which is nearly dry at low water. The population is numerous, composed principally of fishermen and Chinese traders. The said platform runs the whole length of the rows: and its planks were so carelessly thrown across that it seemed wonderful how the children could escape, if they always did escape, falling through the yawning spaces which invited them to a watery, or a muddy grave; they were crawling about these rickety stages in vast numbers; if the tide was out when they fell, they would be received into 3 feet deep of soft mud, supposing always that they did not break their little backs across the gunwales of the canoes beneath, which were made fast to the scaffolding. *** What we saw of the country [in the neighborhood of Jolo] was highly cultivated, consisting, with intervals of jungle, of pasture grounds and gardens, very flourishing and pretty, with abundance of cattle. *** The day after we had commenced [watering] was a market day. The mountaineers came down in parties of from six to twelve, mounted on well-formed little horses, or oxen, according to their rank and means; on these they sat with graceful ease, spear in hand—they were all well armed besides, with shield and kris; in some instances also we observed the heavy two-handed Ilanun sword [kampilan]. They had a wild and independent bearing; and, when seen in groups, some standing, some squatting, the women all chattering, under the wide spreading tree, they much increased the interest of the already picturesque scene. They seemed indifferent as to the sale of their stock, which was conducted chiefly by the women, who freely accompanied them, and were by no means ill favored. The townspeople, who met and traded with these mountaineers, were dressed in gayer colors, but not so well armed. *** Though the market on this occasion was well attended, the trade was slack; but I doubt not that, in the palmy days of active piracy, a considerable amount of business was transacted under this old banyan tree. *** December 30 was the day appointed for Sir James Brooke’s interview with the Sultan of Sulu. We landed in full costume at 10 o’clock. Having walked over the sea suburbs, and arrived at the beach, we found a guard of honor and attendants waiting to conduct Sir James to the Sultan’s presence; they were a motley group, but made themselves useful in clearing the way. Passing within the outer stockade, we arrived, after a few minute’s walk, at the royal residence. It was walled in and fortified: a large space was inclosed by double rows of heavy piles driven into the earth, about 5 feet apart, and the space was filled up with large stones and earth, making a very solid wall of about 15 feet in height, having embrasures, or rather portholes, in convenient places for cannon, out of which we noticed the rusty muzzles of some very heavy guns protruding. A great part of the town was stockaded in a similar way; and the country houses of the datus and mountain chiefs of any importance were also walled in and had guns mounted. Passing through a massive gateway, pretty well flanked with guns and loopholes, we entered a large court, in which some 2,000 persons were assembled, armed and in their best apparel, but observing no sort of order; it was a wild and novel sight. Malays are always armed. The kris to them is what the sword was to an English gentleman in the feudal times. Every person who, by virtue of his rank or on any other pretext, could gain admittance was in attendance on this occasion; for our Rajah had become a justly celebrated man in the great Eastern Archipelago, and was an object of curiosity. We were conducted through the crowd to a corner of the courtyard, where a building inferior to a small English barn, was pointed out as the Sultan’s palace. We entered it by a flight of broad wooden steps (for the palace was raised on piles), through a narrow passage thronged with guards *** and we found ourselves in the royal presence. The audience chamber was not very large; a table, covered with green cloth, ran across the center of it; above the table, and around the upper end of the room sat a very brilliant semicircle of personages, the Sultan occupying a raised seat in the middle. The cortÈge consisted of his grand vizier, the members of the royal family, and the great datus and officers of state. Behind these stood the guards and attendants, dressed in silks, the colors being according to the fancy of their respective masters. The Sultan gave us a gracious reception, shaking hands with each officer as he was presented. This ceremony over, chairs were placed for Sir James and his suite; while those of our party, who could not get seats, formed a semicircle on the other side of the table. The scene was striking and gay. The Sultan is a young-looking man, but with a dull and vacant expression, produced by the too free use of opium: his lips were red with the mixture of betel nut and cere leaf,78 which he chewed. He was dressed in rich silks, red and green the predominant colors. A large jewel sparkled in his turban, and he wore jewels also profusely on his person. The hilt of his kris, the great distinguishing ornament of all Malays, was beautifully decorated with gold wire, curiously twisted in. Immediately behind the Sultan, in closest attendance on his person, stood the cupbearer, a fine young man dressed in green silk, who held in his hand a purple finger glass, which was constantly held to his royal master’s mouth, to receive the filthy-looking mixture which is in such favor with these people—composed of the juice of the betel leaf, with the areca nut and gambier. The other personages composing the circle were dressed with equal gaudiness, in bright silks; in the selection, however, of their colors they displayed considerable taste. Many of the guards were dressed in very ancient chain armor, consisting of skull caps and tunics, covering the arms and reaching from the throat to the knee. Those armed with sword, spear, and kris did not look amiss; but two sentries, placed to guard the entrance to this ancient hall of audience, each shouldering a very shabby-looking old Tower musket, of which they looked very proud, had an absurd effect. After a reasonable time passed by each party in admiration of the other, the conversation was opened by Sir James Brooke, who, as Her Majesty’s commissioner in these regions, submitted to the Sultan certain propositions on matters of business. To these His Majesty expressed his willingness to accede; and he graciously reminded Sir James that the royal family of Sulu were under considerable obligations to the English; inasmuch as his great-grandfather, Sultan Amir,79 having been once upon a time imprisoned by the Spaniards in the fortress of Manila, was delivered from durance vile and reinstated on the throne of his ancestors by Alexander Dalrymple——A. D. 1763. This was now the more liberal on the part of His Majesty, because his royal ancestor had not at the time allowed the service to be altogether unrequited; for he ceded to the English Government a fine island adjoining Sulu (of which, by the bye, no use appears to have been made), together with the north end of Borneo and the south end of Palawan, with the intervening islands. At length we took leave of his Majesty, retiring in much the same order as that in which we had entered. Although no actual treaty was concluded with the Sultan, Sir James paved the way for opening up commerce and for cultivating a better understanding with the natives. In the afternoon we visited one Datu Daniel, a powerful chief, very friendly, and well disposed toward the English. His stronghold was at a short distance in the country, at the foot of one of the mountain slopes, fortified in much the same way as the Sultan’s, but on a smaller scale; his stockades were, however, quite as strong, and his guns in better order. His inclosed court, being likewise a farmyard with a good supply of live stock, looked as if he was better prepared than his royal master to stand a long siege; his wives looked happy, his children merry, and, on the whole, his domestic life appeared tolerably comfortable. *** Considering that Sulu was the great commercial center of these seas, we were surprised at not seeing more large praus; there were none afloat, and very few hauled up; the number, however, of building sheds and blacksmith’s forges showed that they have the means of starting into activity at short notice. Who could have thought that, after such devastation and havoc as the Spaniards wrought on Balangingi, another chief would have the courage to settle on such a hateful spot again! Yet we learn that in spite of the contrary advice of the Sultan and his council, Datu Tampang, as early as December, 1848, stationed himself at Pa’at, Balangingi Island, and constructed a fort with the intention of defying the Spanish forces and fighting them again. An isolated case like this can not be explained except on the ground of foolhardiness, for Tampang was soon after that dislodged by the governor of Zamboanga. But it appears that it was necessary again for the Spaniards to send another squadron under Manuel Quesada, consisting of two steam gunboats and other sloops and vessels, to clean up Balangingi once more and to strike at the Moros of Basilan and Pilas. Nor was this sufficient, for we learn that before the end of the same month of December, 3,000 Sulus and Samals attacked the Spanish forces on Basilan, probably at Isabela, and were repulsed. In 1849 the Spaniards retaliated and reduced to ashes the settlements of Bwal, Samalang, and Gumbalang. Undaunted, the Moros of Tonkil, together with others, in 1850 raided the Islands of Samar and Kamigin and carried away more than 75 natives.
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